The Long Road Home
by thequeenstolemyheart
Summary: Set after the winter finale. When another curse is cast Hook, Emma and Henry set out to break it, but when they get to Storybrook they find Regina's life is not what they expected it to be. Will flash back and forth between FTL and Present day. Outlaw Queen (main ship) and bits of Captain Swan.
1. Chapter 1

**Ok so I have started yet another fic. Ugh…I really should have waited till I conclude one of my others, but alas once an idea is in my head I can't get it out until I write it down and it totally impedes my writing of other stories if I don't get it out of my head. My original idea was to wait a while to post this, but then decided, why not post it now? No worries I am still working on Starting Over as well and am currently in the middle of my conclusion to Love Again. You should see the last chapter to that one posted this week and the next one to Starting Over tomorrow or Tuesday.**

**So as far as this fic goes. The beginning will flash back and forth from FTL to tell the stories of those that went back and then you will see the present day starting with the end of the last episode. This is mainly going to focus on the characters of Regina and Emma at first, but will become an Outlaw Queen fic eventually. I'm not really sure about a romance for Emma. Hook is going to be big especially in the first several chapters, but I will probably explore her feelings for Neal some as well. I don't really have a ship for Emma (other then SQ... I am a multi shipper till the end lol) so I'm not really sure where I'm going to take her character romantically yet. I'm just going to see where the story takes me. Always happy to hear opinions though. :) This is going to have a lot of angst so I am stepping out of my usual writing style of fluff. **

XXXXXXXX

Enchanted Forest 6 Months Ago:

Six months. It had been six moths since they'd arrived back in the place that Regina would honestly rather have forgotten forever. This had been the place where her life had taken a horrific turn. Growing up she'd hated magic and swore that she would never become the monster that her mother was. Regina still had trouble figuring out how exactly she'd become what she feared the most.

She knew how of course…magic. Along with years of bottled up rage and no one to blame it on except the step daughter she'd once loved, but later despised. Her anger and rage had only grown as she continued along in her magical training. Learning magic had changed something inside of her and as she changed her heart grew darker.

Everything changed though after she cast the curse.

Not at first. No, at first she'd been the same woman she'd been so many years ago, the only difference was that in that world she didn't have magic which was honestly a relief. Even though her heart was still dark in the beginnings of the curse she did feel lighter…free might be a better word. Magic was like a drug and when it was available she had needed it, but when it wasn't there she was free from it's curse.

The moment when things had changed for her was the day that she adopted her son. Her sweet little prince. Henry was the first person who loved her…truly loved her since her father and she had loved him back. He'd become her entire world.

She'd made mistakes as a mother, many mistakes. Looking back now that she had a clear head and no longer deluding herself that her acts had been justified she could see that. For most of Henry's childhood they had been happy and carefree. It wasn't until he began to notice that nothing around him was changing that their problems had truly begun.

When Henry had been nine years old he'd asked her about his father. Regina thought that would be a good time to tell him about his adoption. Surprisingly despite her nerves he had taken the news that he was adopted very well. He'd looked to be in deep thought for a moment and had then given her a grin.

"So you mean you chose me? It wasn't like you got pregnant and I was what you got…you actually saw me and decided you wanted me?" He'd asked her.

Regina smiled and told him that from the moment she laid eyes on him she'd fallen in love with him. Henry had grinned and wrapped his arms around her neck telling her that he was the luckiest boy in the world because he had her for a Mom.

Six months later he began to pull away from her. She'd thought at first it was a sort of residual effect of finding out he was adopted and decided to put him in therapy sessions with Archie to help him work through it. She hadn't found out until Emma Swan came into town that he'd noticed that the town never changed and about the storybook that started it all.

She'd lost her son when he was given that book. She'd been so hurt…devastated really when he'd turned his back on her. She remembered wondering if the first ten years of his life really meant nothing to him. She wondered how the person she loved more then anything else in the world could really not love her back. She'd given him her whole heart and he hadn't wanted it.

It was Emma Swan who'd given her the first taste of hope that Henry really did love her. When he'd asked Emma not to let anyone hurt her she'd been given the hope that maybe he didn't hate her.

It had turned out to be true and after getting him back from Neverland Regina had truly thought for a moment that she may get her happy ending.

It had all been ruined by Pan's curse and to save everyone in the town and prevent Henry from being alone she'd had to let him go…with Emma. The hardest thing she'd ever done in her life was watch him drive away in that blasted yellow bug.

Now neither he nor Emma knew anything about their pasts. He no longer remembered her. The thought of that broke Regina's heart, but also strangely comforted her. It broke her heart because he would never know again how much she loves him. He would never know that somewhere in another world there was someone who loved him more then anything. It comforted her for those same reasons. He would never miss her or the people he'd had to leave behind. He would never be kept awake at night as she was wondering if maybe he'd done something different things wouldn't have turned out this way.

No this way he could be a kid…a happy kid. She knew that he was happy because she'd been the one to give he and Emma their memories.

She'd given them her memories. Her memories of his first step, his first day of school, the first time he'd rode a bike, his fifth birthday when he got the Spiderman costume that he refused to take off for nearly a week. They were her memories of their life together but now she was replaced with Emma. It tore her heart in two, but also strangely made her feel as if he still had a part of her with him. As if somehow they were still connected.

That was comforting.

The day they'd arrived in the Enchanted Forest she'd looked around just wondering what would come next. She supposed the thing to do would be to go back to her castle until she was told it had been taken over by a sorceress.

It wasn't that Regina couldn't handle the free loader who'd taken over her old kingdom, but truly she just didn't have any fight left in her. It had all drained away the moment her son drove across the town line. What was the point of fighting for something if you wouldn't be happy when you got it? She would never be happy without her little boy so why keep fighting?

Surprisingly enough the hate and anger was gone as well. She'd realized that where she was and the position she was in was of her own doing and as she'd told Henry before he drove away villains don't get happy endings.

He'd told her she wasn't a villain, but his Mom. She would hold onto those words for the rest of her life.

It was Snow who had made the suggestion she move into the castle with them. Everyone around the woman had looked at her as if she'd grown another head including Regina herself. The last thing she wanted was to live with Snow White again, but Snow had made a valid argument that the sorceress who lived in Regina's old castle was rumored to be very powerful. It would be to everyone's benefit for Regina to be with them incase at any point the woman decided to attack.

Regina had scoffed at first thinking how much of an idiot this woman really was and very nearly saying so until she'd heard Henry's voice in her head pleading with her to please take care of them…to help them.

If the fact that Regina was living here now wasn't proof that she loved her son she didn't know what would be.

It honestly wasn't that horrible. She had her own wing in the palace and for the most part kept to herself except for the dreaded royal council meetings that were held once a week. The sorceress in the castle had caused a fair amount of trouble, nothing yet in this kingdom, but it did warrant keeping an eye on her. Snow and David had made alliances with some of the people who had been left in this world and they were now trying to get back to some sense of normal.

Her only visitors in her wing of the castle were Snow, Neal, Belle and Tinkerbell. They all came to her for different reasons. Snow often came to check on her. Regina could see that the woman was sincere in her worry and she supposed she appreciated it. It was truly amazing that after everything she'd done the woman could still care about her. Regina also suspected that Snow now felt a connection with her. After all they had both recently lost a child and could relate to each other in that aspect. Regina never shared her feelings about loosing Henry with her former step daughter but she didn't object when Snow wanted to talk about Emma.

Neal had come to her room after about a month of being back. She'd been shocked to see him, but quickly found out that he wanted to know about Henry. After all he'd missed his whole life and even though he would never see him again he wanted to at least feel like he knew him. She hadn't wanted to talk to him at first, but again she'd heard that Henry like voice in her head asking her to please be there for him. So reluctantly she'd began telling him about Henry's childhood. She'd actually come to enjoy his visits above anyone else's because she loved talking about Henry. She loved remembering a time when she was truly happy and believed she had everything. She loved remembering her baby boy's smile and the feel of him in her arms. It gave her something she could focus on and be proud of. Of all the things she'd done wrong she'd raised a wonderful little boy.

Belle occasionally came to visit as well. Regina still couldn't figure out why. Truthfully she thought that the woman sometimes just got lonely and needed to feel as if she were doing something useful. What better charity project then the Evil Queen? That wasn't really fair though. In all of her visits Belle had never made her feel less then anyone else. She supposed that if Belle could see the good in the Dark One then perhaps she saw it in her too. She'd offered her a sort of friendship and although Regina had no interest in being anyone's friend she couldn't really say that she minded having the girl around. It was something to break up her boring and often lonely days.

Tinkerbell was probably the closet thing to a friend Regina had. She was the only one that Regina would let see her when she was having a hard time. She didn't share all of her feelings with the woman by any means, but she did share snippets. Sometimes it felt nice just to talk to someone.

She gently moved her pencil over the paper on her desk and didn't even glance up when she heard the light knock on the door.

"Regina?" she heard Snow's voice call from the other side. "Can I come in?"

Regina sighed. "If you must." She answered still not looking up from her drawing.

She heard the door open and Snow's soft footsteps towards her. She could feel the woman looking over her shoulder.

"It looks just like him." Snow told her looking at the picture she had drawn.

Regina just shook her head. She gently touched the paper on her desk. "The eyes aren't right." She told her. "They don't have that spark the way Henry's do."

Snow looked at the woman who stared sadly at the picture of her son. They hadn't even had time to save a photograph of their lost children. It was almost as if they never existed at all…except in their minds.

"I wanted to see if you would like to come to dinner tonight." Snow asked her as she did nearly every night.

Regina laid her pencil down and looked up at Snow for the first time since she entered the room. Snow had found out not long after coming back that she was pregnant again and her belly had started to round. Her face had grown a bit fuller and she truly did have the glow of a pregnant woman. "No thank you, I'll take it in my room."

Snow let out a sigh. "Regina, I really wish you would get out more. It isn't healthy to sit in here in the dark all day."

Regina huffed at the same conversation. "Dear, I do not sit in here all day, I go outside quite often." she gestured to the open curtains "And as you can see I'm not in the dark."

"But you never go around people Regina. You need to get out of your solitude." Snow sighed and rubbed her belly lightly. "This isn't what Henry would want for you."

Regina's eyes snapped back up to Snow's and for a moment she could see the fire that had once been there. "Henry wouldn't want anything for me Snow because Henry doesn't know that I exist. I now mean no more to him then a stranger he meets on the street."

"You know what I mean Regina." Snow huffed. This woman could be so infuriating. "Are you going to make me say it?!"

"Say what dear?" Regina raised a brow.

"I'm worried about you Regina! I…" She paused for a moment. "I don't want this for you either." She laid a hand on the woman's arm. "I want you to be happy."

Regina glanced down at her hand for a moment before looking back up into Snow's eyes. "Happiness isn't meant for me Snow. I appreciate the concern." She briefly laid her hand on the other woman's "Really I do, but it isn't necessary. I'm not falling apart or descending into an evil dark place, I have simply accepted my fate and this is it. I'm not meant to be happy."

Snow sighed wishing there was something she could do to get her out of the dark place she was in. "Regina…"

"You really should stop worrying dear." Regina patted her hand before standing and walking towards the window. "It's not good for the baby."

Snow looked at the woman's back for a moment before her lips turned up slightly. "Be careful Regina, someone may actually start to think you care."

Regina looked back at Snow and studied her for a long moment causing Snow to fidget a bit under then intense glare. "I care because Henry would."

Snow swallowed when she saw the pain reflected in the other woman's eyes. Despite their pasts she wished there was something she could do to help Regina now. Yes she and Regina had a horrible relationship for a very long time, but even Snow could see that her relationship with Henry had changed her former step mother. The woman had given up everything to fix Pan's curse and in doing so had actually given her daughter and grandson their happy ending despite the fact that neither would remember any of them.

It kind of broke Snow's heart a bit that the one person Regina had loved, the one person she'd allowed in and cared for for ten years of his life didn't even know she existed. He was the one person that could testify that there was more to Regina then an Evil Queen who had cast a curse on an entire land. Snow could testify to that too considering that she was the only one who had known Regina before she'd been corrupted by magic, but Regina didn't want her help to attempt to get others to see the good in her. Regina couldn't care less what the people of the kingdom thought of her now. The only people she tolerated visits from was herself, Neal, Belle and Tinkerbell, but it wasn't as if she'd allowed any of them to see inside of her. She had secluded herself in her own world where Snow was honestly afraid that she would stay for the rest of her life.

At least she'd agreed to help them against the sorceress that had taken over Regina's former home. Snow felt that at least that was giving the woman some sense of purpose. Perhaps if she had something to fight for or someone to stand up to it would help bring her out of the dark place she was in.

Snow sighed. "I will have your dinner brought to your room." She lifted a hand to Regina's shoulder and ignored when she felt the woman stiffen a bit. "I'll be back to see you tomorrow."

Regina simply nodded and waited until she heard the door shut. She'd found out several months ago that telling Snow not to bother with her daily visits was a waste of breath. The good and pure Snow White had made it her mission in life to try and help the Evil Queen. It truly amazed her how completely naïve the girl could be. She would never stop trying to help people (even the ones who didn't want it like herself) It was just who she was and somehow over the last months Regina had come to accept that.

The hatred she once felt for her former step daughter was no longer there. Annoyance yes, but not hatred. She just didn't have the energy to hate her anymore and honestly finally letting that go had been a relief. She'd really done her best to be civil to the woman in honor of Henry. She knew that he would want more then anything for her to no longer hate Snow White with every fiber of her being.

The truth was she would still do anything for her son…even if he didn't have the first clue who she was.

She sighed as she heard the door open again but continued to stare out her window.

"Snow while I appreciate the offer of having dinner with every fairy tale character in history I would rather not." She stated.

When she received no answer from the insufferable woman she turned only to find a small boy standing in her doorway.

The boy studied her for a moment before speaking. "Can you help me find my Daddy?"

Regina simply stared at the boy for a moment…just for a moment when she'd caught sight of the boy from the corner of her eye before seeing him fully her heart had leapt. She'd been reminded of when Henry was this small and would come in to see her in her room.

"How did you end up down here?" She asked. Her voice still wasn't quite steady. God, she missed her son.

"Daddy was talking to a man and I thought it would be funny if I played hide and seek from him, but then I couldn't find my way back." He looked at her with big dark eyes that looked as if they could overflow with tears at any moment.

She'd seen him before but had never talked with him. He was the son of that bandit, Robin Hood. The man sat in on all of the council meetings. He seemed to be the one person who had information on the mysterious sorceress. In his travels he'd heard several rumors about the woman and his information seemed to be quite helpful. Regina wasn't fond of the man himself. He was arrogant and cocky and quite frankly if it wasn't for the fact that he was helpful with his intelligence on the witch who now lived in her castle she would have written him off completely.

"And does your father know he is supposed to be seeking you?" She asked him.

The boy shook his head slowly the first tear falling down his cheek. "I think he might be mad that he can't find me."

Regina looked at him for another moment. The tear rolling down his cheek touched something in her heart. "I doubt mad would be the right word, I would say worried would be a better one." She knelt down so she could look the boy in the eyes. "It isn't safe to run off and not tell anyone where you're going."

The boy nodded. "I'm sorry." Another tear fell.

Regina gave him a slight smile and reached her hand up to wipe the tear from his face. "I think it would be a good idea to get you back to him before he calls out the royal guard don't you?" She asked the boy.

He nodded again. "You'll help me find him?"

She smiled at him fully. "I will." She stood up and took his hand. "I've seen you around the castle but I'm sorry to say that I don't know your name."

The boy smiled up at her tears forgotten now that he was on his way back to his father. "I'm Roland." He told her. "What's your name?"

She smiled back at him. "Regina." She told him as they walked down the hallway towards the courtyard.

The boy smiled again. "Your name starts with an R like mine!" he pointed out.

Regina chuckled at the boys enthusiasm. "It does. So I assume you know your ABC's?"

The boy nodded. "Daddy has been teaching me. I still don't know all the sounds that letters make, but I know R because it's what my name starts with. Daddy's name does too!"

Regina nodded. "How old are you Roland?"

"I just turned five last week." He grinned proudly. "Daddy says I'm growing up to fast."

Regina smiled. She remembered that feeling. Every time Henry had another birthday she would find herself wondering where the time had gone. "Kids do grow up fast." She stated.

"Do you have any kids?" He wanted to know.

She gave him a sad smile. "I do…a son, but he isn't with me anymore."

The boy studied her as they walked side by side. "Why not? Where is he?"

"He's in another world, I had to let him go so that he would be safe and happy." She shared with the five year old.

"That's sad. I bet he misses you." The boy told her.

Regina felt a pang in her heart but only nodded as they walked into the courtyard. She spotted the man immediately. He hadn't yet seen them but she could see the panic on his face as he searched behind hedges calling for his son. She knew that feeling as well. Henry had hidden from her when they'd gone to the park one afternoon when he wasn't much older then Roland. She'd turned around for what seemed like half a second and when she'd turned back he was gone. He'd had very much the same idea as Roland, thinking it would be a funny trick to play on Mommy, but the shear panic that Regina had felt as she searched for her little boy thinking up all the horrors that could happen to him when he was all alone she would never forget.

"Here I am Daddy!" The boy stated still holding on to Regina's hand and waving with his other one.

The man looked their way and instantly Regina saw the relief cross his face. He was across the court yard in less then three seconds before he plucked his son off the ground and held on to him as if his life depended on it.

"Jesus Roland you nearly gave me a heart attack." He held his son close to him. "Why didn't you answer when I called for you?" He asked. "Where were you?"

The boy pulled back and looked at Robin with wide eyes. "I'm sorry Daddy. I thought it would be fun to play hide and seek, but then I went down a hallway and couldn't find my way back." He told his father. "But then Regina found me and brought me back to you."

Robin looked at the woman for the first time. She was wearing a somewhat simple black dress (simple in that the clothes the woman had worn before the curse struck were rumored to be much more extravagant.) The dress was a velvet material with a silver border around the neckline, a neckline that rode low on her chest. Not too low, but low enough that you could certainly appreciate the view. It was tight around her waist but flowed out at the hips and down to the floor.

"Thank you." He told her. He hadn't been sure about trusting this woman at first, but after David had told him of the things she had done to save the people of the kingdom from destruction he felt better about her. Apparently she'd given up her son…not only given him up but given him happy memories with his birth mother.

Robin wasn't sure that he could have done the same. What hell it must be to have to say goodbye to your child.

She gave him a slight smile. "You're welcome."

"Are you mad?" The little boy asked.

Robin looked back at his son with such relief on his face. "I'm not mad buddy, but you know better then to go running off without telling me where you are going. I was very worried something bad may have happened to you."

Roland poked out his lip a little. "I'm sorry Daddy. I just wanted to play hide and seek."

"It would appear that you hid yourself so well that you didn't even know where you were." Regina couldn't resist lightening the moment a bit. This kid had quite the pout.

Robin chuckled a bit at her comment. "You certainly did."

Roland grinned and looked at Regina. "You found me though!"

She smiled back at him. "I did." She looked back at Robin for a moment before turning her attention back to the little boy. "I really should be getting back. My dinner will be delivered soon."

Robin nodded. That was why he never saw her at dinner. Did she dine alone every night? "Thank you again for bringing him back. Sorry if he interrupted whatever it was you were doing."

What ever it was she was doing? Staring out the window wishing that her life could have turned out differently. Wishing that for once she could keep the people she loved most close to her. She couldn't say she minded a break from that daily activity. "It wasn't a problem." She smiled at Roland. "Your boy here is quite the charmer."

Robin grinned and bounced Roland a bit on his hip. "He is that." He smiled.

She nodded. "Goodnight Roland. Perhaps we will meet again sometime…" she leaned in and said in a whisper. "Next time lets just make sure your father knows where you are first."

The boy smiled. "Ok."

Regina turned to walk back towards her room. Being around a child reminded her so much of Henry. She wondered what he was doing…if he was happy. How she desperately wished there were a way back to that world, but short of casting another curse there wasn't. Even if she wanted to cast a curse (which she didn't) it would be impossible. To cast the curse you had to sacrifice the heart of the thing you love most and there was no one left.

XXXXXXXX

New York Present Day

Emma walked back towards her apartment after dropping Henry at the bus stop. It had been a strange morning. It wasn't everyday that a strange man with a hook for a hand showed up at her doorway claiming to know her. He'd kissed her rambling something about how he thought that it might work.

What the hell?!

Well she supposed there were crazy people everywhere, but this guy went past crazy right into being a complete and total lunatic.

He'd said her family was in danger. What the hell did that even mean? She had no family except for Henry and he was perfectly safe. She'd been sure to walk him to his bus stop this morning worried that the crazy man may show up again. Henry had whined that he was to old for his Mommy to be walking him to the bus stop and said all the kids would make fun of him, but she hadn't let up. She was still somewhat shaken about the strange events of the morning. Luckily the man had gone away and the walk to the bus stop had been uneventful.

The breeze was chilly but Emma didn't mind. It cleared her head and she was finally beginning to feel calm again, that is until she turned the corner and saw the man in question standing at the door to her building.

He began speaking the minute she spotted him. "Emma, I'm sorry about this morning but…"

"Look creep" she interrupted him. "I told you to go away. This is your last warning, if I see your face around here one more time I'm calling the cops and you can talk your crazy to them."

"Emma, please…I just need you to listen to me for five minutes, I promise I will leave you alone if you give me five minutes." The man pleaded with her.

Emma let out a huff. He was a persistent psycho she would give him that. "How the hell do you even know who I am?" She wanted to know.

"I told you we knew each other before…in another life I guess you could say." He told her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "The only life I have lived is this one and I have never seen you before."

"That you remember." Hook told her. "Your family is in danger Emma and you are the only one that can save them. They need you, please just listen to me."

"I don't have any family." She told him. "Look you obviously have the wrong person so why don't you just go away and find the right one."

"Not until you take this." The man pulled out a rather large book from his bag and held it out to her.

Emma glanced down at it making no move to take it. The book was old and tattered. The gold title on it read Once Upon a Time. "And what the hell would I want with some fairy tale book."

"It isn't just some fairy tale book Emma, It's the story of your life…You and Henry" He told her.

"Ok that's it! You are creeping me out! How in the hell do you know my son's name?!" she raised her voice at him.

"I told you, we knew each other once." He sighed continuing to hold the book out to her. "Look I know all this sounds crazy, but if you take this book…if you read it you will remember."

"You're out of your mind." She told him shaking her head and walking toward the door of her building. "I'm calling the police."

"Just take the book Emma…take it and read it and I will leave you alone." The man held it out to her. "I promise."

"I take that stupid book and I will never see you again." She asked with a raised eyebrow.

He gave her a cocky grin that for some reason infuriated her all the more. "Not unless you want to." He told her.

"Well I think it's safe to say that won't happen." She returned.

The man shrugged. "Then you have nothing to worry about taking this book."

Emma reached out hesitantly but finally decided to give in. She closed her fingers around the book and when she did she felt a strange sensation in her hand… a sort of tingling.

She shook off the strange feeling. Obviously this lunatic had her imagination working overtime. "Ok she said as she held the book at her side. I took it, now get lost."

The man smirked again. "When you do decide you want to talk to me I left a note inside the book where you will be able to find me."

Emma returned his smirk. "Well I'm sorry you wasted all that time writing down your info because I can promise you that you won't be hearing from me."

"We'll see." The man told her. "Have a good day Emma."

Instead of answering Emma turned and walked back through the door of her apartment. She took the elevator to the third floor and pulled out her keys. When she pushed the door open to her apartment she turned and locked the dead bolt just in case the man decided to come back. She looked down at the book in her hands that he had convinced her to take. Why in the hell would anyone want to give her a storybook?

Well he was obviously crazy and he did have a hook for a hand. She smirked to herself. "Probably thinks he's Captain Hook."

She threw the book on the table where it landed with a thud.

"Creep." she said again walking towards her computer to get a little work done.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey Mom." She heard her son call out when he walked through the door.

"Hey kid, I'm just finishing up here." She called back from her computer. "You hungry?" She asked knowing that was a stupid question. These days he was always hungry.

The boy shrugged. "I could eat." He told her as he dumped his backpack on the table. "What's this?" He asked gesturing to the book she'd thrown there earlier.

She'd nearly forgotten about her crazy visitor from this morning. "Oh, that's just a book some crazy guy wanted me to take."

Henry sat down at the table looking at it with interest. Her son loved to read. She often wondered where he'd gotten that trait. Emma had never been much of reader. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy it, it was just that she really didn't have the time or patience to do much of it.

"It looks like some kind of fairy tale book." he said as he opened it and flipped through the pages. He looked at it for a few moments. He stopped at a picture of Snow White eating the apple while standing next to the Evil Queen. "But in this one it's like all the characters are mixed together in one big story." He flipped another page and saw a picture of a town called Storybrook. "And it looks like they are in modern times." He said with some excitement.

Emma raised her eyebrow as she brought a sandwich to the table. "Well at least someone's going to get some enjoyment out of that ratty old thing." She smiled at him affectionately. "I should have known you would like it."

Henry looked up and smiled as she laid his sandwich down. "Thanks Mom." He told her as he went back to flipping through the book. The last page drew his attention. "Hey that looks like our bug." he told her pointing at the picture of the car that looked to be parked on the town line.

Emma glanced over his shoulder to look at the picture. "It does doesn't it?" She felt an eerie since of déjà vu.

Henry flipped yet another page to see the face of a woman surrounded by a purple mist. It was the same woman who'd been in the former pictures of the Evil Queen except in this picture she was saving the town. She had a tear rolling down her cheek. Her face seemed familiar for some reason. Almost as if he had seen her before but he couldn't place where it had been. He read the words on the page that talked of how the Queen Regina had given up the only person she loved to save the towns people from ruin. To save him from being cursed.

Henry furrowed his brow and moved his hand over the picture of the woman. He touched her face gently and that was when it happened. Image after image began to flash into his mind. His first day of school when he'd ran out of the classroom and leapt into his mothers arms. The woman he leapt to had been his blonde mother, but when he pulled back to smile at her he saw the brunette's face. His ninth birthday party when he'd begged for an xbox. It was his blonde mother's face who gave it to him, but when he looked back up from the box it was the brunette smiling at him. All the images that flashed through his head from his childhood started with the memories that he knew with his Mom, but were then replaced with the brunette woman that stared up at him from the page of the book.

Then came the devastated face of the woman we he screamed at her outside of their house that he'd found his real mom. Her heart broken face when she realized she'd finally gotten him back after the trip to Neverland, but would have to lose him again. The tear that rolled down her face when he told her she wasn't a villain, but his Mom.

Henry could hear someone calling his name in panic before he snapped out of the collage of pictures of his past. "Mom!" He gasped.

"Henry…Jesus. I'm right here. Are you ok? Don't try to move I'm gonna call an ambulance." Emma told him.

"No! Wait!" He told her as he looked around disoriented. How had he ended up on the floor? "I'm ok."

"Henry your not ok, you passed out!" Emma told him.

"No…Mom…I'm fine…I remember." He told her looking at her with wide eyes.

"Remember? Remember what Henry?" She shook her head and knelt beside him as he tried to stand. "I told you not to move, I don't want that to happen again."

"It won't because I remember now." He told her as he stood up.

Remember? What the hell was he talking about? He must have had some kind of hallucination when he passed out. "Henry. I am taking you to the hospital."

"No." he told her again. "I don't need the hospital…it's the book Mom…I remember. You have to look at it!"

The book. Emma glanced frantically to the table. That crazy man had done something to the book. He'd put something on it that caused her son to pass out and hallucinate. She would find that asshole and kill him.

"It's real!" Henry told her. "All of it! We've just forgotten. You have to look at the book Mom! Please!" Henry pleaded and reached for it again.

"Henry no! Don't touch that thing." She said pulling her son back. "That crazy man has done something to it. I'm calling the police."

"No Mom, you can't! You have to look at it!" Henry looked at her with pleading eyes. "You have to remember."

"Remember what Henry?" She asked exasperated.

"Our lives. Your parents…my Mom." He told her.

"Henry I'm your Mom." She shook her head. "And I don't have parents, they gave me up remember."

"My other Mom." Henry corrected. "And your parents gave you up to save you from the curse. We lived in this town…Storybrook. It's where our families are."

Her son sounded as if he'd completely lost his mind. She blinked at him. It was strange but what he was saying seemed to resonate though. As if deep down it didn't sound completely bat shit. "You don't have another Mom, Henry, You've been with me since birth…trust me. I remember."

Henry shook his head. "You only remember because she gave you her memories…please. Just look at the book."

Emma shook her head looking at the book on the table. It would be crazy to pick that thing up again especially since it seemed to give her son strange delusions but there was something about it…something about what Henry was saying.

She moved towards it almost afraid to touch it again. She looked at the page that still laid open on the table. She saw the woman with the tear rolling down her face and in the background she could make out the forms of a man and a woman who did look familiar. Their faces seemed to call to her form the recesses of her mind. Where had she seen these people before?

She stepped closer and upon inspection saw another face in the background. This one she knew without a doubt.

"Neal?" She looked at the man standing behind the brunette.

"My dad." Henry answered her.

Her head snapped up to her son. "How do you know that?" She asked him. She'd never told him about his father, the man who had left her to rot in prison.

"Because I've met him…I've met all of them. They're our family." He told her.

Emma looked at the faces of the people on the page and in the far corner she saw the face of them man who'd shown up on her door step that morning. The man who'd given her this book. Had he somehow been stalking her for her whole life? How could he know about Neal and why would he put him in this book.

"It's real Mom." Henry told her from beside her.

She shook her head as she sat down in the chair in front of the book. "That's impossible Henry."

She stared at the page as if daring it to prove her wrong. All of these faces…she knew them. She'd seen them before. Had she read this book? None of it made since. She moved her hand hesitantly over the page and when she finally allowed her fingers to make contact she saw it all.

She was giving birth to Henry but instead of holding him she told them to take him. Another birthday celebrated alone until the ten your old boy showed up claiming to be her son. The curse breaking and meeting her parents. Falling into the hat and ending up in a different world. Being rescued by the woman who had raised her son. Henry being taken to Neverland. Her and his other mother working together to get him back. Pan casting a new curse and Regina telling her the only way to stop it was her taking Henry away. Regina telling her she would give her new memories…happy ones…a life with Henry. Driving away and watching in the rear view mirror as her family had been enveloped in the purple mist.

Emma gasped as if waking up from a nightmare.

"Mom?" She felt Henry place a hand on her shoulder then looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my God."

XXXXXXXX

**Ok! So those of you who know me know that I am highly motivated by reviews! Please tell me what you think!**

**Most of you who have read previous stories know that I mostly just write great big balls of fluff. This story is going to have a lot more angst and a very slow burn as far as romance goes. Hope you enjoyed and please please tell me what you thought of the first chapter.**

**Come say hi on tumblr if you would like. Im thequeenstolemyheart there! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to all who read/followed/reviewed the last chapter! You guys are awesome!**

XXXXXXXX

New York Present Day

Emma looked into her son's wide eyes. None of it had been real. Her memories of keeping Henry, of raising him had all been planted memories. Regina had told her before they crossed the town line that she would give them happy memories of a lifetime together and she had. Emma took a breath. She didn't know how to feel. On one hand she was happy to remember she had parents and friends that loved her.

But her life with her son…it wasn't real. She hadn't been with him. She'd given him up for adoption after he was born and she'd missed out on his life. All this last year she'd held on to those memories, cherished them. She loved her son more then anything else in the world and the fact that she hadn't always been with him as her false memories told her was devastating. She found herself wishing for a moment that she could go back and somehow unknow what she knew now. She found herself wishing she'd thrown that damn book in the dumpster where they never would have seen it so they could go on living their happy lives together.

"Mom?" Henry asked her.

Emma swallowed and blinked back the tears that had begun to form in her eyes.

"Are you ok?" Henry asked her.

Emma shook her head even as a tear fell down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with the back of her hand and looked back at her son…not just her son…their son. He was Regina and Neal's as well. Henry had two other parents who loved him very much. It wasn't just the two of them anymore and would likely never be again.

"I'm fine Henry…I just…" she couldn't find the words.

"Kinda shocking to remember everything at once huh?" He asked. "But hey you actually stayed conscious so you did better then me." He gave her that crooked grin that she'd come to adore.

She had to appreciate his sense of humor even in a situation like this one. She gave him a half laugh. "Yeah…it may take me minute." She gave him a grin so that he wouldn't see how torn she was about suddenly receiving their memories back. "Five minutes ago I'm a regular Joe with an adorable son just trying to make ends meet and now all of a sudden I'm a princess again."

"And the savior!" Henry reminded her.

Emma groaned. "Ok, my one request is that we stop calling me that."

Henry smirked, it was a face that now reminded her very much of his other mother. "You can't hide from what you are." He told her grinning.

She rolled her eyes. "Ok smarty pants."

"Mom, what are we gonna do?" He asked her. "We have to get back to them."

Emma groaned internally. Looks like she would be eating the words she'd said to Hook that morning. "Hook left a note in the book telling us where he would be staying."

Henry flipped to the back of the book and pulled out the note. "What did he say when he left it?"

"He said that my family was in danger." She told him.

"Grandma and Grandpa?" Henry asked with a worried look on his face. "Did he say anything about my Mom?"

Emma looked into his worried eyes. "He just said my family."

"We need to go and talk to him." Henry told her already ready to begin their next big adventure.

"I suppose we do." Emma agreed. It looked as if they were in for a long evening.

XXXXXXXX

Hook grinned when he heard the knock on his hotel room door. That didn't take long. He took his time as he walked to the door figuring that he would let her sweat it out a bit. When he finally did pull it open he simply smirked and leaned against the door frame.

"Swan, Did you decide you hadn't had enough of my dashing good looks after all?" he asked.

"Save it Hook." Emma shoved the book at him before pushing her way inside the room followed by Henry. "What the hell is going on?!"

"What no kiss hello?" He asked as he shut the door behind her. He had the grin on his face when she turned to glare at him and then turned to the boy. "Hello lad, you certainly have shot up over the last year."

"Hi Hook." Henry greeted. "What going on with my family?" The boy jumped right to the question.

Hook shook his head. "Alright. I guess we'll get right down to business then."

"You said my family is in danger." Emma told him.

"Indeed they are." He answered.

"What about my Mom?" Henry asked. "Neal?"

"I'm afraid that everyone that went back to the Enchanted Forest is in danger Henry. It's why I came here." He told them.

"What happened?" Emma wanted to know.

"Well when we returned to the Enchanted Forest there was a sorceress who had taken over living in Regina's castle. At first we weren't to worried about her as she hadn't caused any trouble in our part of the kingdom, but then things changed." Hook told them.

"What changed?" Henry asked.

"Well we found out that she had a vendetta against a few people, specifically Regina but she isn't to keen on Snow or Charming either. She honestly seems to have it out for everyone. The first thought in everyone's minds was that Regina had possibly done something to piss her off at some point…even Regina assumed that was why, but once we actually saw her…Regina had no idea who she was or what she had done to make her so angry." He told them.

"Is she sure?" Emma asked knowing that Regina had offended quite a few people without even knowing it. "Maybe she just doesn't remember her."

"Trust me Emma, this woman is not someone that you would easily forget." Hook told her.

Emma let out a breath. "So what has she done? How did you get here? Why didn't my parents come? Or Regina?"

"It's complicated, your mother couldn't make the trip because we weren't for sure if it would work. The fairies managed to figure out a way to create a portal but since it had never been done before we knew it would be dangerous. We couldn't take that chance with your mother." He said. "She's pregnant Emma and we were worried what the trip might do to her. Your father didn't want to leave your mother when there was a threat to her."

Emma nodded as if she hadn't been punched in the gut with the fact that she would soon be a big sister…at thirty years old. "So why not Regina? Or Neal?"

"I'm starting to think that you aren't happy to see me love." Hook stated as she rolled her eyes. "They don't exactly know I'm here." He shared. "When we tossed around the idea of coming to you for help Regina and Neal were adamant that we leave the two of you out of it. Neither would be happy to know I'm here. Regina would probably rip my heart out I have no doubt. They felt it would be to dangerous and both of them knowing the way that their son wants to be a hero…well they weren't favorable to the idea of involving you or him."

"So what did this sorceress do?!" Henry wanted to know running out of patience.

"She cast another curse." Hook told them. "I barely got out in time."

"Another curse?" Emma asked.

"Yes…let's just say that Storybrook is back on the map and all of our favorite residents are currently living there again." Hook told them.

"Their here?!" Henry asked with wide eyes. "I can see my Mom again?!"

"That you can lad, although she is cursed at the moment so she likely won't know who you are." He told him.

Emma once again felt her heart pick up to hear Henry talk of his excitement to see his Mom, this must have been how Regina felt all those years ago. The terrified feeling that she was going to lose her son forever. She swallowed. "So how do we break the curse?" Emma asked. "It can't be the same as last time…that would be to easy. Do we show them the book? It worked for me and Henry."

"The book was enchanted specifically for you and Henry and worked here. There you will have the curse working against you." He shared. "I don't know how exactly it is to be broken, but I do have this." He pulled out a small vial from his pocket that had a blue liquid inside.

"What is it?" Emma asked.

"It's the potion that the fairies made for those who lost their memories when they crossed the town line. There was only enough for one." Hook told her.

"How is breaking the curse on one person going to help us?" Emma asked.

"Well I would say that if you chose wisely who you give this too then that person may be able to help find the answers to your questions." He told her.

Emma stared at him for a moment before taking the vial into her hand. "Regina." She said.

XXXXXXXX

"We should leave tomorrow." Henry told her as she tucked him into his bed later that evening.

"Henry, first of all we can't just go marching in there with no plan and second _we_ aren't going to do anything. No way am I letting you go into that town when we have no idea what could be waiting for us there." She took a breath. "You can stay here with your uncle Jacob while I go in and figure out how to break the curse."

"Seriously?" The boy raised his brow in that way that Emma now knew was purely Regina. "I'm not just going to stay here, I want to see them…I want to see my Mom." He told her.

"Henry I'm not going to argue about this, it's to dangerous. We know nothing about this woman, we have no idea what she's capable of. It is way to dangerous for you to go there." she told her son.

"Please, Emma…" Her heart lurched when he called her by her name. "Mom…" He corrected. "You know me, I'm the kid that stole a credit card and made my way to Boston to find you." He pointed out. "You know that the minute you leave I will sneak off and make my way to Storybrook anyway. So the way I see it you can either take me and keep an eye on me yourself or I can come on my own and unprotected."

"Henry" Emma took a deep breath trying not to let her frustration with her son's stubbornness show. "This is exactly why Regina didn't want you to know. You can't just go running off with no concern for your safety." She laid her hand on her son's forehead. "I know you want to be a hero, but sometimes being a hero means sitting on the side lines for a bit. I won't be able to concentrate on the curse if I'm worried about you the whole time."

"That's a nice try Mom, but I'm still going." He said stubbornly. "My Mom is in danger and I want to see her."

"I know you do." she let out a breath, "But right now the curse is in effect, she won't know who either of us are Henry, you can come back when the curse is broken,"

"No, I'm gonna help, I need to help. This is my family too Mom. I need to go back and help them." He argued.

Emma sighed as she looked at the face of her son. "We'll talk about it some more in the morning Henry. For right now you need to get some sleep. We certainly can't make plans for what we are gonna do if we're both exhausted. We need to talk to Hook and get some more details."

"You're not going to let me go are you?" he asked.

"I said we'll talk about it in the morning." she told him and leaned in to place a kiss to his head. "Get some sleep."

Henry said nothing and turned on his side to face the wall. Emma simply shook her head and walked out of the room. She understood that he wanted to go and help his family. Of course he did. Her kid had a hero complex like she'd never seen before, but she just couldn't justify taking him with her into a battleground when she had no idea who she was going up against. As smart as her son was he could also be a bit gullible. He'd given his heart to Peter Pan for crying out loud. She simply couldn't take the chance that out of some misplaced sense of heroics he could possibly end up getting hurt or worse.

No she would call her foster brother in the morning. Henry could stay with him just until she knew it was safe for him to return to Storybrook. It was the best way. He would have to watch him like a hawk she knew. Henry's threat to come anyway certainly wasn't an empty one. She had no doubt that her son would attempt just that. He was a very smart and occasionally cunning boy. Something else he'd received from his brunette mother.

She poured herself a glass of wine before sitting down on the couch.

Regina. The woman had kept up her end of the deal when it came to giving them a happy life. Even going so far as to refuse the idea of letting either of them help with this new threat. Even if it meant she would be cursed forever she had been unwilling to allow her son to be put in harms way.

Emma had to appreciate that. She'd learned a lot about the brunette in the time they had spent looking for their son in Neverland, but the one thing she'd learned above all was that the woman loved her son more then life itself. She couldn't imagine how hard it had been for her to stand there and watch the person she loved most leave her. It must have been hell. She wondered what the woman had gone through once they'd gone back to the Enchanted Forest.

Then there was her parents. Freaking Snow White and Prince Charming, Emma laughed a little. She had been so happy to finally have a family and so heart broken only to lose them again. She wondered how to two of them coped without her. Sure she imagined they had been sad, but I mean hell they were already expecting another child. That hadn't taken long. Emma wondered if it was her replacement. Would this child be loved more then she? Not that she wasn't used to coming in second fiddle. Her time in foster homes had shown her that she was never anyone's first priority. It wasn't that she wasn't happy for her parents and the fact that they could move on and be happy, but…Did they miss her at all? I mean how long had the dust settled before the two of them were already planning to extend her family…without her?

She sounded like a selfish brat. It wasn't that she wanted them to be miserable, but Emma remembered how she had felt that day in the cave when Snow confessed she wanted another chance at motherhood. It had stung. Of course she would want another chance since she missed out on her first…but…Emma shook her head trying to shake these feelings that had been dogging her every since she'd remembered her past. She'd grown up all alone with no one to love her. Her parents had put her into that wardrobe knowing she would be alone her whole life, but they did it so she would come back and break the curse. The fact that Regina and Neal were fighting tooth and nail to keep Henry from coming into the town and putting himself in danger to break the same curse made her head hurt. They cared more about their son's welfare then that of themselves. They were willing to live a cursed life if only it meant that Henry would never be put in harms way.

Emma loved her parents…she truly did, but she can't say that she would have made the same choices that they had…or maybe she would. She did after all give Henry up for adoption, but she had done that for his best interests, because she knew that she couldn't give him a good life, not because she needed him to come back and do something for her later in life.

She took a breath as she finished off her wine. She really needed to stop thinking. She laughed to herself, but then again it wasn't exactly easy being the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming…being given the title of "Savior" Emma cringed just thinking of the word. It appeared that once again everyone's happy endings would be on her. Couldn't she just go back to being normal? Why did everything in her life always have to be so damn complicated?

She stood and took her glass to the sink before turning to go into her room to attempt to get some sleep. Surprisingly enough she fell asleep quickly. The events of the day had worn her out and caused sleep to come easily.

It wouldn't be until morning when she woke to the sun shining into her window that the peace that sleep had brought to her would flee in an instant and be replaced by shear panic. When she went to her son's room to wake him for breakfast she found only a note. Henry was gone.

XXXXXXXX

The Enchanted Forest Six Months Ago

Regina listened as the majority of the royal council talked to each other in slight panic. A special meeting had been called that morning as there had been strange lights in the sky the night before near her old home. Regina had seen them from her balcony and she had to admit it was worrisome. She couldn't say what spell had been performed without going to the sight where it was done, but judging from the lights she had seen in the sky she knew it was powerful. Very powerful.

The royal council was a mess of everyone attempting to talk at once and honestly they were giving her a headache. Grumpy had suggested storming the castle of the sorceress and attempting to take her prisoner to get answers. Many of the dwarves had agreed saying that Blue could do her spell that would render the woman powerless for a time. The same spell they'd used on her once.

Idiots.

That fact was that they were very likely underestimating this woman. Obviously this woman had a plan and Regina seriously doubted that she would fall for the same trick that she once had. She herself had only fell for it because she had been blinded by her need for vengeance and hate for Snow White. If she had been thinking logically she would have recognized the set up. She honestly thought these people were fools for thinking that this woman wouldn't catch on to the fact they were attempting to trick her.

They didn't even know what her motives were, let alone her weaknesses. They needed to find out more about her before coming up with a plan of action on how to defeat her.

"I don't think that storming into her castle is a the best idea." She heard Robin say. "We don't know anything about her, much less her weaknesses or why she's doing any of this. We could be marching straight into a trap." He told the table.

Regina raised her eyebrow at the man, maybe he wasn't as much of an idiot as the rest of them.

"Regina what to you think?" Snow asked her from across the table.

"It pains me to say it…" she started "But I have to agree with the bandit. We need to find out her motivations. We need to know the spell that she cast first. There will be no way of fighting whatever it is if we don't first know what we are fighting."

"Is there a way you can find out what it is that she did out there last night?" David asked her.

Regina shrugged. "I would need to go to the site of the spell." She told them. "A spell that powerful will leave a…residue. I should at the very least be able to tell what ingredients were used. Once I know that, I can research what was used and figure out the purpose of the spell."

"We can all go." Snow stated.

"No offence dear but I work better on my own, not to mention that your current condition would only slow us down and possibly put us all in more danger." Regina shook her head. "No I will go on my own. It will be much easier for me to remain out of site if I have no one with me."

"Regina, I'm not going to let you go out there by yourself…it could be a trap." Snow told her.

"I am quite adept at avoiding traps dear, I can certainly handle myself." Regina told her.

"I agree with Snow, Regina." Neal spoke up. "You can't go in there by yourself. We have no idea what this woman is capable of. I will come with you."

"No offence dear, but you aren't exactly the best at tracking and you very much like our son…" Regina paused and swallowed once again nearly paralyzed by the memory of her little boy. She shook her head and continued with her thought. "You are very much the act first, think later kind of person."

"And you are hot headed and stubborn." Neal pointed out. "You could get yourself in just as much trouble as I could, you need someone there to watch your back and I think our son would not be very happy with me if I let his mother walk into the line of fire alone."

She glared at him for a moment. He knew that playing the trump card of what Henry would want works every time with her. "I think it quite pointless to debate what our son would want when he doesn't even know who either of us are." she stated feeling only slightly guilty when she saw the sting of her words hit him.

"Even still, I'm not letting you go alone." Neal told her. "I'm going and that's the end of it."

"If I may." Robin interrupted their argument. "I think that Neal is right you shouldn't go in alone, but it's my opinion that we need to send more then just two. We need to have people who can watch all sides while Regina gathers what she needs to figure out the spell that was cast."

"I would volunteer to go." Mulan spoke up for the first time.

"As do I." Robin added.

"I will go as well." Ruby said and grinned. "Never know when you could use a wolf."

"I'll go too." David said. "I think that will give us enough people to protect all sides while Regina gets the information she needs."

"Lovely." Regina fumed. "A fairytale road trip, I'll be sure and bring my camera." she pushed herself back from the table miffed that she would have to spend the next few days with these people.

Aurora leaned over to Belle as Regina exited. "What's a camera?" she wanted to know.

Snow stood to follow Regina from the room. "Regina!" she called out.

Regina turned in annoyance and glared at the woman.

Snow swallowed knowing it was never a good idea to poke the bear when it was annoyed. "You're sure you can figure out what the spell was?" She brought her hands to her stomach and stroked lightly.

Regina noticed the gesture and softened a little. She could see Snow was worried that she may have yet another child in danger. "As long as the lovely posse that will be all around me doesn't muck it up I am quite sure I can figure out what spell was cast." she looked into the worried woman's eyes for a moment and sighed. It appeared that motherhood truly had made her soft. "Try not to worry, the last thing we need while dealing with this mess is for you to go into premature labor."

Snow nodded and looked down at her stomach. "Do you think we are all in danger the way everyone else seems to?"

Regina never was one to sugarcoat things. "I don't know." She told her honestly. "I won't have any idea what this woman is up to until I can get to the site where she cast this spell. I do know that worrying yourself to death over it in the mean time isn't going to do anyone any good. Try to relax, there is no point worrying until we know what is happening."

Snow nodded oddly comforted. "Ok." she laid her hand on Regina's arm. "Be careful out there…You're the only family I have left." She told her.

Regina blinked at the woman for a moment before giving her a slow nod. "I will." she told her. It was always strange to her when Snow or David referred to her as family. Yes she was Snow's stepmother, but she considered that job as being over ages ago. She supposed that her being Henry's mother and also the fact that she was once a mother to Snow as well did make them family…whether she liked it or not.

XXXXXXXX

They decided to journey to her former castle on horseback. The fastest way of course would be for her to aparate in, but it was very possible that the woman had magic detectors set up on her land. Regina had when she'd been Queen. She knew the location where any magic was cast near her castle. It was one of her ways of protecting herself from other magic users who may have wanted to do her harm so using magic was out of the question.

Once she got to the site she should be able to sense some of the ingredients used in whatever spell this woman had cast. Knowing the typical ingredients used in magic and being able to detect them was fairly simple for anyone who had used it for any amount of time.

They had allowed her to lead the group. She knew her own lands better then any of them and she also knew of the best places to cast spells that needed a lot of space. Judging from the lights in the sky the night before Regina suspected that the woman had used one of her favored spots.

The ride had been uneventful thus far and mostly quiet. The plan was to make it to the site of the spell today and then set up camp outside of the castle grounds for the evening. Camping on the grounds would be to much of a risk, they needed to get in and out quickly if they weren't going to be detected by the woman that they knew nothing about.

It was strange, the woman had come into the realm a few months before their group had returned here from Storybrook. Up until this point no one from the outer kingdoms had seen her. Her former home had been left empty and according to Robin most were afraid to set foot onto the ground. Rumors of the place being haunted or cursed had kept away even the bravest squatters, that was until this woman had come here.

None of them were sure where she'd actually come from. It would have had to been a land that had been left unaffected by the curse, which there were several. The only lands that had been involved where the ones that Regina had a personal vendetta against. That had included Wonderland, the land that Whale had come from and of course the Enchanted Forest. Truthfully this woman could be from anywhere and that would make her motives here in the Enchanted Forest all the more confusing.

There was the possibility that she had been banished from wherever she had been from. That seemed the likely scenario, but there was also the possibility that there was something here that the woman wanted.

Most everything of real value had been taken to Storybrook with the curse, including much of the things that had magical properties, but that didn't mean that the woman couldn't have brought things with her from wherever she was from. It still left the question of what her motives were.

Regina looked over as Robin rode up beside her.

"Do you really believe you can figure out what spell was cast?" He wondered. "How long does that kind of thing stay active?"

"A spell as powerful as the one we saw last night would leave a residue for some time." She answered him. "Considering that we are getting there fairly quickly I should be able to sense all the ingredients used."

Robin nodded his head. "You seem fairly sure of yourself."

Regina smirked and looked at him from the corner of her eye. "I am sure of myself."

Robin studied her for a moment. He had to admit he was intrigued by the woman. She had a fearsome reputation before coming back here. Among the people who were not in this Storybrook with her she was still highly feared. The people who had been there though seemed to trust her including Snow and David. He couldn't say that he'd trusted her at first either but after hearing what she'd done…what she'd sacrificed to save everyone he did feel better about her.

Then there had been her interaction with his son. The day she'd brought Roland back to him after the boy had gotten lost in the palace he'd seen the way she looked at him. It had been with a mixture of humor and sadness. No doubt the small boy probably reminded her of her own child, the one she'd given up. It couldn't be easy for her to be back here, knowing that she would never see the child she loved so much again.

"Why do I never see you around the palace?" he asked her.

She looked back over at her. "I have no interest in socializing." She told him. "Especially with people who only tolerate me because they have to."

Robin shook his head. "Do you not have friends there?"

Regina laughed. "I also have no interest in having friends." She told him. "My life is better lived alone."

"Doesn't seem like a very happy life." He observed.

Regina smirked "Happiness isn't in the cards for me. I learned a long time ago to simply accept my life the way it is. Believing in a happy ending only makes you more devastated when it is ripped away from you."

"So you just give up hope?" he asked.

Regina simply stared ahead. "Hope is deceiving."

Robin looked at the woman for a moment. "I have a hard time believing that his is what your son would want for you."

Regina snapped her eyes back to his. "My son isn't here and the only thing that could make me happy is him, don't talk to me about my son."

"I'm just trying to figure out why you are punishing yourself…is it because of your past? Because you don't believe you deserve happiness?" He asked.

Regina looked at the man fuming. Who in the hell does he think he is? Acting as if he had some right to speak about her life. "You have no idea who I am." She told him. "You don't know me or my child so I will thank you to stay out of my affairs, Bandit." She told him.

Robin simply shrugged. "Just trying to help, Your Majesty." He mocked. "My son has been asking about you by the way, he told he me would like to visit you again."

Regina swallowed for a moment. It was a bit harder to dismiss a little boy. "Your son is very sweet and while I appreciate the sentiment I don't think that I am the best influence for him to have in his life." She told him. "I'm sure you'll agree."

Robin shrugged. "I don't know, you did something that seemed to make an impression. I have found that children can be surprisingly good judges of character."

Regina again thought about her son. "Yes I suppose they can." she left the conversation at that and trotted ahead of him.

I guess that means our conversation is over Robin mused chuckling to himself. She certainly wasn't an easy woman to get to know. He could understand her need to keep herself distanced from others. From what he had learned about her it would seem that she'd lost everyone in her life that she'd ever loved. It made sense that the woman would want to keep others at a safe distance.

He wasn't sure why she intrigued him so much. She was short tempered and often times down right rude. She seemed to a have a sassy comment to nearly everything that was said to her. She obviously knew that she was beautiful and was not afraid to show it, but then showed no interest in actually impressing anyone in a romantic sense. She also assumed that she was smarter then everyone else…which in the case of some of the people he'd met from the other land he had to admit she may be right about.

Robin had always had a weakness for trying to help people. Especially when those people seemed to be lost causes. Regina claimed to be a "bad influence" for his son. It was almost as if she wanted him to assume that she was evil to the core, however he could most definitely see past that. An evil woman would not have done what she did. A selfish person would not give up the only person she loved to save a town full of people she loathed and an evil woman would certainly not be here helping them.

Many people looked at good and evil as a simple equation, black or white, you either were or you weren't, but Robin looked at it much differently. He understood that there were definite shades of gray. He happened to reside in the gray area of life himself most of the time.

Regina had come up with the nickname of bandit for him and she wasn't exactly wrong. For years he had been exactly that. He fully believed in helping the impoverished people of the land and if that meant robbing the rich to help them he had certainly been willing to do so.

In a world of black and white stealing was wrong, but when he then used the riches he gained to help starving children…well that's what made it a gray area. Suddenly it didn't seem quite so wrong anymore.

Not that the things she had done hadn't been truly atrocious. Knowing who she had been at first made him very suspicious of her and her motivations, but he tended to trust his instincts about people and his instincts told him that Regina Mills no longer wanted to hurt anyone. If he doubted it he wouldn't let her anywhere near his son.

He was pulled from his thoughts when she suddenly stopped at a clearing in front of them.

"This is it." Regina said as she quickly dismounted her horse.

The others stopped behind her and dismounted as well. They watched as Regina walked to the center of the clearing where it appeared a large fire had burned recently. Without words each of them took a place around the circle all them of them keeping a lookout for anything that may approach them.

Regina walked to the center of the clearing and began to look around. She could still feel the magic in the air. It was dark magic. She shuddered a bit at the feel of it. She bent down to where the fire had burned not long ago and closed her eyes. She began to sense the magical properties that were there, she could still feel the ingredients that had been used there. She swallowed when she felt the overwhelming sense of dread. She didn't need to look in a spell book to figure out the curse that had been cast here, she knew it well. It was one she herself had used many years ago.

"Regina?" She heard David call out in question.

It was a powerful curse indeed. She sensed that everything had been added minus one thing, the most important part of the curse. It wasn't yet complete, but God help them all when it was.

Regina turned to address the group, but when she did there was a loud pop and suddenly there was a plume of orange smoke in the center of the circle. Everyone around her drew their weapons as Ruby quickly changed to her wolf form. Regina brought a fireball into her hand ready to launch it at their intruder.

"I was wondering how long it would take for you to get here." they heard a woman's voice say.

Regina squinted in an attempt to make out the woman that was now standing before them. The woman's face was illuminated by the moonlight and unless her eyes were playing tricks on her the woman was green.

Regina continued to stare at the woman, ready to launch the fireball towards her if she made a move.

"Now, Now" the woman said with a smile on her face. "There's no need for weapons, I have no plans for any of you tonight."

"Who are you?" Regina finally asked continuing to study the woman.

The woman gave her a lazy smile. "My name is Elphaba although I have been given several different nick names." She began to walk a circle around Regina as she looked her up and down. "At last we meet." The woman said. "I will admit that I have waited a very long time for this day."

"Is that why you cast this curse? You wanted to meet me." Regina sneered at her. "Really dear all you needed to do was ask."

The woman threw back her head and laughed. "Darling I have many reasons for casting this particular curse, but I will admit that you are at the center of it." She gave Regina a sly grin. "Are you afraid yet, Regina?" She asked.

"Why should I be afraid of someone who seems to have forgotten the most important ingredient to this particular curse?" Regina asked. "Really dear if you want to scare me you will at the very least need to get your spells right."

The woman smiled again as she looked around at the people Regina had brought with her. "I see you brought your posse." she told her. "Really a rather pathetic bunch, don't you think? I was under the impression that Regina Mills kept much better company then this bunch of misfits."

"It wasn't my choice to bring them, it was insisted upon, I would much rather work alone." Regina told her.

"As do I." The witch told her. "I think Regina that by now you would have learned to never underestimate your enemy."

Regina inclined her head. "And how exactly have I underestimated you?"

"By assuming that I don't know how to enact my own curse of course. I have the last ingredient darling, I simply have yet to add it…I wanted to see you first, have a little chat."

"Why me?" Regina asked as if she were bored with the entire conversation. "I've never met you before, I certainly have no connection to you."

"You're right." The woman answered. "You haven't seen me before…my face is certainly one that isn't easy to forget." She grinned again. "But we are connected Regina."

Regina said nothing only continued to glare at the woman.

"Tell me darling" The green woman started. "How are you enjoying your return home? Missing your castle yet. I certainly hope you aren't to upset with me for taking it over…along with some of your things."

Regina tilted her head. "Not at all…although I have to say I pulled off that outfit much better then you are dear. I'm afraid the color does nothing for your skin tone."

The woman once again laughed. "And how are you finding your new life in the palace? Are you missing your darling son yet?"

The woman felt a hint of victory when she saw Regina's eyes flash with pain.

"You are I see…such a shame the way things happen, you believing that you can finally have what you want only to have it taken away again." The woman said.

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Regina asked.

The woman gave her a condescending smile. "Poor Regina, growing up in riches, with parents who gave you everything, becoming Queen of a land, but still being unsatisfied." The woman gestured to the group around her. "Even now after all the evil you have done you still have people who want to protect you. How is it darling that you seem to find people to care about you even being…" The woman looked at her with disgust. "What you are? Yet you still feel the need to sulk and cry about what a terrible life you have."

"What do you know of my life?" Regina asked her.

"Enough to know that you haven't suffered nearly enough." The woman told her. "But don't worry dear…that will soon be rectified."

"So this…" she gestured to the spot where the spell had been cast. "All of this…it's about me?"

The woman smiled and gestured to everyone standing around them silently watching the conversation. Each one waiting for the right moment to strike. "Oh, it's about all of you, but I do have a particularly lovely fate waiting for you."

"Why? What have I…or anyone here for that matter done to you?" Regina asked.

The woman smirked. "All in good time Regina." The woman took a step towards Regina. Neal moved forward as if to shield her but Regina held up her hand to tell him to stop. "You think you know misery now?" The woman asked her. "You haven't even brushed the surface, but you will Regina, I can promise you now that before the end of this you will know what it is to have everything you've ever dreamed of." She turned to sneer at the group of people standing around her. "And you will know what it is to lose it." She turned back to Regina with an evil smile on her face. "I'll see you soon darling." The woman said before once again the orange plume of smoke appeared and the woman was gone.

Regina stood with the fireball still in her hand. Everyone around her relaxed and put away their weapons.

"What the hell was that?!" David was the first to speak. "Regina, who was that woman?"

"I have no idea." Regina answered as she extinguished the fireball in her hand.

"Well you have to have some idea." David said looking at her. "She definitely has it out for you. Is she someone you cursed?"

Regina shot her eyes to David. "I told you I don't know who she is…I've never seen that woman before in my life."

"Well she certainly knows you." Mulan stated as she walked to the center of the circle. "And it would appear that you are not her favorite person."

Regina looked over to Mulan. "I'm no one's favorite person." She stated. "So that's hardly surprising."

"Were you able to detect the ingredients used in the spell?" Ruby asked. "So you can look up the spell she did?"

"I don't need to look it up, I know it well." Regina answered.

"You mentioned she was missing an ingredient." Robin spoke up. "What is it she's missing?"

"The heart of the thing she loves most." Regina told them.

Nearly everyone's eyes widened. "Regina," Neal started. "What spell is she planning to use?"

"The Dark Curse." Regina answered.

XXXXXXXX

**I hope this chapter made since. I was pretty tired when I wrote it. I would also like to say for all the Snow/Charming fans…I hope you aren't to mad at me for Emma's thoughts on her parents but I do feel as a child who was abandoned her entire life, even knowing the reason these might be some of the feelings that she has about it.**

**Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! I am really excited about this story and honestly have the whole thing planed out in my head all the way until the end…I just need to write it all down. **

**There will be a Starting Over update in the next few days. I have had a few requests for OQ sexy times so you might be seeing some of that in the next SO update as well. Also I know I promised the conclusion to Love Again this week, but I am still working on the last chapter. I want to get it just right! **

**Thanks for reading and again please review! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to all who read/followed/reviewed. I am really enjoying this story. Literally I have this thing planned in my head all the way to the end. It's just finding the time to get the chapters written.**

XXXXXXXX

Six Months Ago The Enchanted Forest

"No." Regina said adamantly as she once again found herself sitting in the royal council meeting.

"Regina, We don't have a choice." Snow told her as she rubbed her hands nervously over her stomach. "If she does cast the curse again we will have to find a way to send someone into the other world before it hits to find Emma. She's the savior and our only hope of breaking the curse."

"She is also the only mother that my son knows." Regina told her. "And if Emma receives her memory back and she comes to try and save us all then Henry will soon follow."

"Emma would never let anything happen to Henry." Snow told her.

"Not intentionally, no." Regina agreed. "But I know my son and if he receives his memory back there is nothing that will keep him from trying to save us all. He wants to be a hero."

"Emma would never let him walk into a dangerous situation." Charming argued.

"The same way I never would have let him steal a credit card, and hop on a bus to Boston." Regina stated flatly. "Henry is a smart boy and it won't matter what Emma does. He will find a way."

"But, Regina…" Snow paused. "If they come back and break the curse…we could see them again."

Regina looked Snow in the eye. "I would give my life to look at my little boy one more time…to hold him for just a moment." she stated and Snow nearly teared up as she looked at the pain on Regina's face. "But I will not put him in harms way. Not ever."

"But we will be cursed…you will be cursed." Charming told her.

"Then I will be cursed…I will live the rest of my life under that curse if it means Henry is safe." Regina said not willing to be moved from her position.

"I have to say that I agree with Regina." Neal told the table. "I can't knowingly put Henry or Emma at risk. We have no idea what this woman's motives are…what if she's doing all of this to somehow try and gain the powers of the Savior…or what if she's doing it to try to get Henry's heart like Pan did?" Neal shook his head. "This could all be a set up to try and get them to come to town."

"But we can't live out our lives cursed." Hook reasoned. "There are other children here…those children will be cursed as well."

"We have to send for them Regina…you have to find a way to open a portal to that world." Snow told her.

"I won't." Regina once again looked her in the eye. "And this discussion is over. I'm tired and am going to my room." she told the table and stood.

"Regina…" Snow started, but she'd already gone from the room.

Robin excused himself from the table and stood quickly to follow. "Regina!" He called out when he'd exited the room.

Regina sighed and turned to face him. "What do you want Bandit? I told you all in there that I am tired."

"I know…I just…" He sighed. "Regina, if this curse is cast…is there a chance that I will be separated from my son?"

Regina looked into his eyes and saw the worry there. It caused her resolve to soften a bit. "There is a chance." she told him.

Robin swallowed and nodded solemnly. "Is there anyway of knowing for sure…what her plans are when she casts it?"

Regina shook her head. "No, not unless she chooses to share with us her plans which I highly doubt she will do."

"Is there no way to stop it?" He asked feeling desperate.

"If you are trying to talk me into going along with the Charming's plan it's not going to work. I will not put my son in harms way." She told him.

Robin shook his head. "I wouldn't expect you too…I wouldn't either if that makes things better." He told her. "What I mean is…would there be a way to stop her? Even if it meat killing her? Like you I don't want my son to be at this woman's mercy."

Regina looked at him for a moment. She understood his worry for his child. She had the very same worry for her own which is why she refused to go along with helping Snow and David. "There's always a way, but we would have to get to her first and considering her apparent skill with magic it wouldn't be easy."

"But it could be done?" he asked.

"I suppose…it's possible." she told him.

"If I were to want to try…would you be willing to help me?" He asked her.

She looked at his worried eyes for a moment. "It wouldn't be easy…there is no guarantee it would work…and we could both die ourselves."

"I can't lose my son Regina…he's all I have…he's everything." He told her softly. "Will you please help me?"

Regina's heart caught as he echoed the words that she'd once said to Emma about her own son. She let out a breath. "We will need to do some research…find out who this woman is, where she came from and most importantly what she wants." She told him.

Robin looked into her eyes and she could see the relief that was there at her words…however misplaced that relief may be. She didn't tell him that it would probably be impossible. She didn't tell him that there would probably be no way of even getting close to this woman, much less killing her. She decided to let him have hope…even though she knew that fighting this curse would be impossible. Better for him to have hope and not spend what could be his final days with his son in constant fear. Besides if they were attempting to fight it in this way it could distract Snow and David from trying to find a way to Emma.

"We will have to find a man named Jefferson. He left us soon after we first arrived here." She told him.

"What can this Jefferson do for us?" he asked.

"He used to be a realm jumper…if there is anyone who would know who this woman is it would be him." Regina told him and paused. The chances of any of this working were slim and if they were soon to be cursed again he should spend all the time with his son that he could. "You should bring your son with us…this part of our journey shouldn't be dangerous and Jefferson has a daughter. It would be nice for Roland to see another child as there are currently none in the kingdom."

"You think it will be ok for him to come?" He asked.

"I do, Grace would probably like to see another child as well…especially if they have gone back to living in the woods and away from civilization as they once did." She told him.

He gave her a genuine smile. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet." she told him. "You may want to let Neal in on our plan. He can keep an eye on things while we are gone and keep up…I don't know…morale why we are trying to formulate a plan."

"He can also keep an eye out to make sure that Snow and David don't try to send someone for Emma and your son behind your back."

She smiled a little. "That too."

XXXXXXXX

Regina returned to her room and took a deep breath.

Another curse, she thought to herself. Every since she had talked to the green sorceress who called herself Elphaba she hadn't felt steady.

The fact that they could be sent back to Storybrook…they would all forget who they are and everything they know. In her case she guessed that wouldn't be all that terrible. After all she was miserable here. Forgetting everything could in fact be an enormous relief, but truthfully she wouldn't give up her memories for anything.

It was true she had more bad memories then good. Being brought up by a mother who literally had no heart, having her true love killed in front of her then being forced to marry a man three times her age and living those years in absolute hell…those things would be wonderful to forget, but her good memories made up for all of that.

Her memories with Henry…she wouldn't trade them for anything. The absolute love that he had brought to her had quite literally saved her life. She wouldn't trade her memories of her little prince even if it meant she had to keep all of her horrible ones.

Even though keeping the good memories made her that much more sad in the mean time because the little boy she loved so much was now gone.

She hadn't lied when she told Robin she would do everything she could to keep the curse from being cast, but she also knew that it was probably going to be a failed attempt. When someone is determined to get their revenge they are relentless and nearly impossible to stop.

But why was this woman seeking revenge?

Regina went back over the conversation they'd had the night before. The woman had shown particular hostility towards her, but she truly had no idea why. She'd never seen her before and had no idea what she could have done to piss her off so badly. Unless her curse or something from her past had done something to harm someone this woman loved.

She'd also seemed to have a dislike for everyone that had been there though. As if she thought she were entitled to something that none of them would give her. It didn't make since to Regina why she would want to cast this curse.

She'd wondered at first if it had something to do with Snow and Charming's baby. Contrary to popular belief true love…real true love was rare. It wasn't that the other couples in the kingdom didn't love each other, they did and most could wake a partner with true loves kiss if it came down to it, but finding your soul mate was something else entirely and that is what Snow and Charming had found in each other. It was it's own sort of magic and it made their children quite powerful. Before the woman had appeared to them Regina thought her possible motivations were to get a hold of the child. The use of dark and light magic together was quite powerful, she and Emma had proven that over and over again.

Even though the woman seemed to have other motives it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on Snow perhaps put a protection spell on her because while there were other motives she could certainly have more then just one.

She scowled at herself. The fact she was even making protecting Snow a priority was ridiculous to her. She was doing it of course because it was what her son would want. It in no way meant that she had her own feelings for Snow and her safety. No it was her son that would want her to do this so this is what she would do.

She didn't allow herself to dwell on the nagging feeling that if anything happened to her former step daughter she would be devastated. Just because she saw her and talked with her everyday certainly didn't mean she had feelings for her again. No she'd gotten closer to Snow because it was what Henry would want her to do. That was the only reason.

She sighed as she thought about the materials she would need for her journey tomorrow. Even though she didn't believe this would work it certainly couldn't hurt to know more about this woman. Rumple had taught her best in this aspect and that was to know your enemies if you ever expect to beat them.

She'd suggested the bandit bring his son along because for all intents and purposes this could be the last time they get to spend together and as unpredictable is Jefferson could sometimes be she knew he would behave himself with a child around.

She wasn't for sure if the bandit and his son would be separated, but it was best for them to be together now. She hadn't separated all families when she'd cast the curse, only the ones she had a vendetta against so perhaps the woman would leave this family alone.

She hoped so. Being separated from your family was hell.

XXXXXXXX

New York Present Day

Hook woke with a start to the pounding on his door. He rolled over and cursed as he tried to find his pants.

"Hook!" He heard the voice of Emma Swan before the pounding started again.

He smirked and his heart did a slight skip in his chest to find that she'd come back yet again. He pulled his pants on and made his way to the door. He pulled it open and grinned about to speak but Emma pushed right past him.

"He's gone." She told him sounding nearly distraught with panic.

"Who?" He asked still attempting to wake up and get his bearings.

"Who?!" Emma turned to him seething. "Who in the hell do you think?!" She asked him. "Henry!"

Hook looked at her for a moment. Shit, this is exactly what Regina said would happen. "Oh….gone back to Storybrook I imagine."

Emma balled her hands into fists nearly ready to start wailing on him. "This is your fault!" She told him. "You and my parents! What the hell were you thinking?! Especially them. They know how Henry is! They knew that the minute he found out that everyone was cursed again he would go flying off trying to be a hero! And they sent you here anyway!" She yelled with tears forming in her eyes. "Now my son is off God knows where with some crazy sorceress that cursed a whole land who we know nothing about by the way…and he didn't even take the potion with him to give to Regina, so there isn't even anyone there that knows what's going on and that he needs to be protected!"

"All right love" Hook put his hands on Emma's shoulders in an attempt to comfort her. "The lad is smart he will stay out of harms way until we get there. Try to calm down."

Emma pushed his hands away. "Don't tell me to calm down! My son is in danger and he's gone to find his other mother who won't know who he is and she has no idea that she's cursed or there is someone that could hurt our son! Now is not the time to be calm!" She yelled at him.

"Alright." Hook held up his hands. "He can't have gotten that much of a head start, we'll leave now for Storybrook."

Emma took a breath and nodded. It was true. Henry would have had to take a bus to Maine and because of multiple stops he may not have gotten very far yet. Maybe they could even beat him there…Unlikely, but maybe.

"Get dressed." She told him. "We're leaving."

"Do you have the potion?" He asked.

Emma nodded. "Henry better be ok when we get there."

"He'll be fine…the boy is smart. How much harm can the lad get into in a few hours?"

Emma rolled her eyes. More then anyone could guess most likely.

XXXXXXXX

Henry climbed out of the cab in a driveway about a mile outside of the town line. He'd told the cab driver that this was his home and had planned to walk from here. He knew that crossing the line was pretty much impossible when the curse was in effect, unless you were someone that belonged there…such as the savior, or he hoped the son of the savior.

He handed the cabbie Emma's credit card and waited while the man ran it. If Henry Swan…Mills…what was his name now anyway? What name did people who had false memories stick with?

Mills…his last name was Mills.

The man handed Henry back the card and Henry smiled at him. "Thanks." He walked towards that house as if he planned to go in. When the cab backed out of the drive he took off in the other direction towards the road. It would be a little bit of a hike into Storybrook, but he wasn't really worried about that. The chances of anyone being on this road were pretty slim.

His Mom was going to kill him he thought to himself. Both of them…as soon as his other Mom got her memories back. He wished that he had been able to grab the potion before he left the apartment, but his Mom had taken into her room with her and he didn't want to take the chance of waking her up.

He knew that this wasn't exactly the safest thing he'd ever done, but she wasn't going to let him come and he knew that if he'd gone to his uncle's the way his Mom planned it would be near impossible getting away. He'd had to do it now when she wasn't expecting it. He just couldn't let her leave him behind. He wanted…needed to see his Mom.

From the moment he'd gotten his memory back her face had haunted him. The woman who had raised him for ten years of his life had let him go to save him. He could remember the devastation on her face when she hugged him for the last time, the way it had felt to be wrapped in her arms. Her hugs had always made him feel safe…protected and he missed her. All he wanted to do was see her again.

He wondered what it had been like for her in the Enchanted Forest when she'd gone back. Had she been alone? Had anyone at all been there for her? He couldn't bare the thought of her being alone and miserable without someone to love her.

Their relationship had been rocky after he'd found out about the curse. There had been a time that he believed she didn't really love him. He thought that she only took him because he was the son of the savior. The thought had devastated him because up until the moment he'd read that book she'd been his entire world.

He'd had a good childhood. He and his mother had been so close. He could remember every memory with her as if it were yesterday. His first day of school the way he had cried and held on to her leg not wanting to be away from her. She'd bent down to him and promised that if he were brave that she would take him for ice cream after school was over. When he'd left that afternoon he'd run down the steps of the school house and had been filled with an overwhelming sense of relief when he saw her on the side walk. He'd ran to her and when she caught him in her arms and pulled him into a hug he'd felt everything in his world was right again.

There had been the time he decided he wanted to try riding a bike with no training wheels, but didn't want to wait for help and had snuck out on his own to give it a try. He hadn't stayed up any time at all and when he fell and scraped his knee he'd screamed as if he was about to lose his leg. He remembered how she'd coming running out the door at the sound of his cries and he'd been sure she would scold him for not waiting for her but instead she'd taken him in her arms and held him against her. He could still remember being carried into the house and the story she'd told him as she'd cleaned his knee. She'd told him how true loves kiss could heal any hurt and would always make it feel better. As he'd listened to her story he had been distracted from the sting of the scrape and had nearly forgotten about it. When she bent and placed a kiss to his knee she asked how it felt now. He'd been surprised to find that the pain was gone. She'd smiled and said "See true loves kiss does make everything better."

She always called him her little prince. God how he missed hearing that. All he wanted was to see her again, to tell her he was sorry for forgetting how much he loved her and promise her that he would never forget again. She would never have to be alone anymore because he would always be there. He would never leave her.

He thought for a moment about his other mother. Many of the memories he'd had with her of his childhood had been ones he'd had with his Mom. She'd actually given them their memories together so even though she hadn't been with him he'd still had a piece of her, even though he didn't know it at the time. He loved his blonde mother and after living the last year with her their bond had only strengthened, but somewhere deep down he'd always felt as if he were missing something. It was as if something just wasn't right.

Now he knew what that something was. His heart jumped as he thought about the fact that in a few hours he would be seeing his Mom, the one that raised him. The one that loved him more then anything in the world. The one that had kissed away the pain of his scraped knee with true loves kiss.

His heart pounded harder when the Welcome to Storybrook sign came into view. Could outsiders see the sign? He wondered. He approached with caution, no one was around. He swallowed. Hopefully there were no adverse effects for crossing under the curse…well there hadn't been before right? I mean his Mom had brought him from the outside when he was a baby and he was fine.

He took a deep breath and walked past the sign. He'd closed his eyes as he did so expecting the worst but after a moment he opened them and looked around. No magic shield had been thrown up and electrocuted him, he still knew who he was and why he was here. He guessed that was a good sign. He pulled his phone from his pocket when it rang again. It was his Mom. He sighed. He'd promised himself that he would answer her calls as soon as he entered Storybrook, but if he answered now she would make him promise to wait where he was and would probably drive him right back out of town when she got there. No, he would wait until he was actually in town. He planned to go to Granny's and wait. He should be able to duck into the alley and wait there, He would be able to see all the comings and goings and hopefully he would get the chance to see his Mom. He hoped she was ok. He hoped that they could think of a way to get her to drink the potion quickly so that she would remember him.

Then he could promise her that she would never be alone again.

XXXXXXXX

Henry ducked into the alley beside Granny's. This would be there perfect place to see the coming's and goings of everyone in the town as it seemed that everyone is Storybrook stopped by Granny's at some point in their day.

He wanted to shout out when he saw Archie walk by with Pongo, but thought better of it remembering that no one here would actually know who he is.

He looked down when his phone rang again. He sighed seeing his Mother's number for the 8th time in a hour. He hit the button and put the phone to his ear.

"Hey Mom." he answered.

"Henry!" He heard his mother's relieved voice on the other end of the call. "Thank God you are ok! Why in the hell haven't you been answering your calls?!" She scolded.

"Because I knew you would make me promise to stay where ever I was and wait for you and I couldn't make that promise because I had to get back here." He told her. "I have to see her."

"Henry." Emma said with exasperation. "Where are you?"

"I'm in the alley beside Granny's." He told her.

"We are twenty minutes out of town now. Don't you dare move…do you hear me?" Emma said

"I'm just watching the people go by." He told her. "I haven't talked to anyone yet."

"Good." She replied. "Don't…you stay right where you are. Everyone is cursed Henry, no one will remember you and we don't know who the woman is that cast the curse to begin with. You stay out of site."

Henry started to answer but when he looked back up into the street his heart stopped. It was her.

"Henry? Do you hear me?" Emma asked again.

"She's here." He told her as he watched his mother walking towards Granny's. She was exactly like he remembered. He wanted so desperately to run to her. To throw his arms around her waist and tell her that he loved her.

"Henry" He heard Emma's voice over the phone. "You stay where you are…She doesn't remember you. We will figure out how to talk to her when I get there." Emma told him.

"I just want to see her for a minute." Henry told her.

"Henry no!" Emma told him. "She doesn't know she's cursed. She doesn't know that there is someone in the town who is a danger to you! She doesn't know you need to be protected. Just wait! We're almost there."

"I gotta go." He said as his Mom pulled the door to Granny's open.

"No Henry don't you dare hang up this…."

He hit the end button on his cell phone. "Sorry Mom." He said as he silenced his phone and walked towards the door to Granny's.

He pulled it open just in time to see a little boy wiggle out of the corner booth and run to his brunette mother.

"Mommy!" the boy said with excitement as he was caught up in her arms and pulled close to her the same way she used to do with him.

"Hi sweetheart!" She laughed and place a kiss to the little boy's head.

Mommy? Henry thought as he watching his mother smiling at another child. What the hell was going on?

XXXXXXXX

**I hope you guys are enjoying so far! Please review!**

**I'm so glad that I have these fics to get me through the hiatus and now with all the death spoilers I feel like I am going crazy. I think I know who it's gonna be but I could be surprised. What do you guys think?**

**I would love to chat with you on tumblr about the show! Drop me a message! I'm thequeenstolemyheart there!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to all who read/followed/reviewed the last chapter!**

XXXXXXXX

The Enchanted Forest Six Months Ago

Regina rode along side Robin and Roland in silence. She hadn't said much since they'd left the palace instead allowing the young boy's chatter to entertain them on the way to see Jefferson.

He really was a sweet little boy. He reminded her so much of Henry at that age. Always ready for the next adventure and excited about what each new day would bring. It made her sad and caused her to miss her son terribly, but it was also somewhat comforting. She'd always enjoyed Henry's stories and views on life at that age. It was a time before they could be jaded by the real world. A time where imagination could take them anyplace they wanted to go and would let them be anything they wanted to be.

Regina hadn't really had that opportunity as a child. Her mother had been so strict about rules and acting like a proper lady, but in her dreams at night she would dream up fabulous adventures of far way lands and happy endings. She would dream of one day finding love.

In all of her dreams of the future and finding her love did she ever imagine she would lose it before it could even begin. In all of her dreams of family and children did she ever imagine she would lose her little boy. The person who meant most to her in the world.

It was nice to see that there were children who could still believe in happy endings and fairy tale love.

She hoped this young boy would hold onto that as long as he could. She hoped that the memories she had given her own son would give him back some of his innocence and wide eyed excitement for life. She wanted him to have it as long as he could.

"One day I'm going to be a knight!" Roland informed them.

"Be coming a knight takes a lot of practice." Robin told him.

"I know" He answered. "I got a wooden sword for my birthday Regina." the boy informed her. "And Daddy says he will teach me how to use it." He paused for a moment. "Then Mulan said that after my lessons with Daddy she will teach me the right way because Daddy should stick to his bow."

Regina laughed. "Well it certainly sounds like you are off to a good start. What do you plan to do when you become a knight?"

"Lots of stuff." Roland answered. "I'm gonna ride horses and fight dragons. I will even rescue princesses, but not because I want to marry them." The boy made a face. "Girls are gross!"

Robin chuckled at that assessment and looked at Regina. "I'm wondering at what age that opinion will change."

Regina smiled. "Sometime around puberty I would imagine."

"God help me when that time gets here." Robin stated.

"Do you know any knights Regina?" The boy asked her.

"I don't now" she told him "But I knew a few when I lived here before."

"Were they brave and fearless?" He asked.

"Honestly I don't know." she said. "I never really paid much attention."

"You didn't watch jousting at the palace?" Robin said surprised.

"I was never into it. I went of course because it was expected, but my mind was usually someplace else." She shared.

"Would you watch me if I were a knight Regina?" Roland asked her.

"Of course." She told him and smiled. "You would be a knight worth watching."

"Not boring like the other ones." Roland stated with a grin.

Regina laughed again. "Certainly not."

"Did you ever have a knight rescue you when you were queen?" The little boy asked her.

"I…" If only, Regina thought to herself. "No, I never had a knight run to my rescue."

Robin looked over to her at her tone of voice. He could hear the pain behind her words. He wondered why she would have needed a knight to rescue her.

"Well when I'm a knight you can count on me to rescue you. I won't ever let anyone lock you in a tower." The little boy chattered on.

Regina's lips turned up at his words. "That is very comforting Sir Roland, I will have to make you part of my royal guard."

Roland beamed at her. "I won't ever let any dragons or ogres get you either. You will be safe with me."

"What about trolls?" Robin asked his son amused. "Will you protect her from those as well?"

"Yep. I will make sure you are always safe." Roland answered.

"I will be proud to have such a brave knight fighting for me." Regina answered him then gestured to Robin. "This is it." She pointed to the small cabin just ahead of them and the little girl standing out front.

"Daddy" They heard Grace say and Regina watched as Jefferson walked out the front door.

"Hello Jefferson." Regina greeted sliding easily from her horse.

"What do you want?" He asked.

"A little chat is all…perhaps we would do better to have this talk in private." Regina turned to Grace who eyed her with suspicion. "Grace this is my friend Roland." she gestured to the small boy who had just been helped from his horse by his father. "Perhaps you wouldn't mind to take him inside and get him some water, it's been a long journey."

Grace looked to her father who nodded. Whatever reason Regina was here he didn't want his daughter involved.

The young girl walked to Roland to introduce herself. "Hello Roland, I'm Grace. Would you like to come inside with me? I just made some muffins…are you hungry?"

The little boy looked to his father to be sure it was ok and when he nodded Roland turned back to her. "Yes please."

Grace smiled and took his hand to lead him inside. The moment the door shut behind them Jefferson moved quickly and brought a sword to Regina's throat. Robin moved just as quickly pulling out his sword, but Regina held up her hand to stop him from advancing never taking her eyes from Jefferson.

"You don't have to worry Bandit…He's not going to kill me." She looked slightly amused.

"I will if you try to separate me from my daughter again Regina." He told her.

Regina scoffed and leaned into the blade a bit. "You don't have it in you Jefferson." When he only continued to glare at her she raised her hand and pushed the blade aside. "Besides this time it isn't me who plans to cast a curse that could keep you from your daughter."

"What are you talking about?" He asked her.

"I met someone recently who seems to be quite interested in casting another curse." she told him. "I'm hoping she's someone you may know from your travels."

"Who is she?" he asked lowering his sword completely. "Where is she from?"

"That's what I'm hoping you can tell me dear." Regina said. "All I know is that her name is Elphaba and she's…well…green."

Jefferson paled a bit as he looked at Regina. "Why would Elphaba be here?" He wanted to know.

"Again that's something I'm hoping you can tell me." Regina answered him.

Jefferson swallowed. "Elphaba is from Oz." He told her. "She has a pretty nasty reputation."

"I need more information dear if there is going to be any hope of stopping her." Regina told her.

Jefferson shook his head. "She hated the Wizard I know that. He was the ruler of Oz when I was there. He was somewhat of a shady bastard so I can't say that I blame her there." He let out a breath. "She had a sister too. Elphaba was nicknamed the Wicked Witch of the West and her sister was dubbed the Wicked Witch of the East."

Regina arched a brow. "Nearly as creative as The Evil Queen."

"Her sister's name was Nessa, but she was killed several years ago, a house fell on her is my understanding." Jefferson went on as if this statement wasn't strange in the slightest. "The young girl who accidently killed Nessa ended up with her Ruby Slippers. The shoes were said to hold a lot of power and Elphaba became obsessed with getting them back. She was at odds with another witch in the land named Glinda. I'm not really sure why but I heard that they were once friends. She is also rumored to have a son who travels with her, but I can't be sure about that."

Regina furrowed her brow. "So what could she possibly want here?"

Jefferson shook his head. "I have no idea. As far as I know her only enemies were in Oz."

"Jefferson, do you think it is possible that I somehow did something that would have made her angry…something I did here that could have affected someone she loved there?" Regina asked him. "She is angry with everyone here, but she seems to have a special vendetta against me."

Jefferson shook his head. "I don't know. Traveling between worlds wasn't really something that happened a lot in that land. Unless you knew Dorothy the girl who dropped a house on her sister…but the rumor is that she came from the land without magic."

Regina let out a breath. "I don't." she honestly couldn't connect what this woman could possibly want with the people in this land.

"What led you to believe that she is planning to cast the curse?" Jefferson wanted to know.

"We saw lights from a spell performed at my old castle. When I went to the site I recognized the ingredients. She was only missing the heart of the person she loves most which she claims to have." She told him.

"You don't think…I mean surely she wouldn't want revenge enough that she would kill her own son…as far as I know he is all she had." Jefferson told her.

The thought disturbed Regina to her core. Surely not, surely this woman no matter how evil couldn't take the life of her own son.

"If she is capable of doing that" Robin spoke for the first time. "Then what the hell else is she capable of?"

The three of them looked at each other wondering just what in the hell they were all in for.

XXXXXXXX

They arrived back at the castle later that evening. The ride back had been a quiet one. Regina and Robin had been lost in their own thoughts about what being at the mercy of this woman would mean.

Her reputation was ruthless and quite frankly Regina was nervous. Could she have killed her own son? There had to be another explanation. Surely no mother could want revenge that badly.

The thought once again made her shudder. She thought of her son and the love she felt for him. She would kill anyone in an instant that tried to do him harm. She couldn't imagine a mother being willing to kill their own child.

Perhaps Jefferson was wrong. He did say that she was rumored to have a son, not that she actually had one. Perhaps she didn't have one at all and the heart of the thing she loved most had come from someone else.

If she even had it…she could be bluffing. There was the small possibility that she was just trying to scare all of them. If she has it then why hasn't she used it yet?

Then again there was the possibility the woman was telling the truth and she was just biding her time. Perhaps she was giving all of them time to be terrified and think on what them all being under the curse again would really mean.

Roland had fallen asleep in front of Robin hours ago. Regina envied the boy. It had always been amazing to her when her own son had been his age how he could sleep through anything. Regina hadn't had a good nights sleep since they had arrived back here. Constant nightmares of her past and letting her son go plagued her in the night.

When they arrived back at the stables Regina quickly dismounted her horse then walked to Robin's to take the sleeping boy from him so he could get down as well. Regina took a deep breath when Roland snuggled against her, being reminded of all of the times her son would do the same. It felt so good to cuddle a child again even if it was only for a moment.

"Are you ok with him for a minute?" Robin asked. "I can tend to the horses if you are."

Regina nodded. "We'll be fine." she told him.

When he walked into the stables Regina moved to a bench to sit down with him. She settled him on her lap and he laid his head against her chest. The fact that the boy had not even been slightly roused from his sleep amused her. She smiled a bit when he cuddled into her chest.

How she missed this. There had been times when Henry was little that instead of immediately placing him in bed after he had fallen asleep on the couch or on a car ride home she would just sit and hold him marveling at the little boy who filled her heart with such love. She'd always loved holding him when he was sleeping. It was typically the only time of day he had been still enough to just sit and cuddle with her as long as she wanted.

She brought up a hand to rub the boy's back lightly. She could only hope that whatever this witch had planned for them she would allow this child to stay with his father. She could only hope that this boy would be well taken care of.

She knew Robin was worried. She could see it written all over his face. She wished she could reassure him but the truth was that she didn't see how they would stop this Elphaba from doing exactly as she pleased. If it was true and she did already have the heart needed to complete the curse then it was only a matter of time. She could cast it at any moment now.

Robin walked out of the stables after tending to the horses. He was terrified. He'd been uneasy every since they had talked with Jefferson. Regina's complete silence and furrowed brow on the way back told him that she was worried as well. What would become of them once this curse was cast? More importantly what would happen to his son?

The thought that he could be separated from his little boy terrified him. What if he was put with someone who didn't care for him? What if he was alone? He couldn't bare the thought of his son being alone and scared without him.

He looked up to find Regina sitting on a bench with Roland curled against her chest. She rubbed his back lightly as she looked down into his sleeping face.

The sight of it caused his heart to give a small leap. When his wife had been pregnant with Roland he'd often imagined what their lives would look like and this was exactly what he had pictured. He'd pictured her sitting with their child just as Regina was, looking down into his face with a small smile.

But that had not been in the cards for his family. His wife had died only moments after laying eyes on Roland. He had become a single father instantly. He and Roland were happy together, but he did often find himself missing her. It had been five years since she died. It had gotten easier over time, but he still mourned the fact that Roland would not have a mother. He wouldn't have a Mommy to cuddle him close and look down into his face with pure love.

He gave a small smiled when Regina glanced up at him. "He still out?" He asked.

She smiled "He's barely moved a muscle." she brushed the hair back from his face. "I envy children and their ability to sleep through any circumstance in life."

He could see on her face that she was enjoying this time holding his son so instead of taking him he sat down beside her. "I think it's because they fully trust the adults around them to keep away any danger." Robin answered. "I only wish it were possible all the time."

Regina sighed and looked up at Robin. She knew he was worried…beyond worried really. If the roles were reversed and she were in his situation with her son she wouldn't be able to function she would be so terrified of what may happen to him.

"Keep him close to you Robin." She told him. "Don't let him out of your site for a minute."

"You don't think we are going to be able to stop her." He said. It wasn't a question. He already knew her answer.

"If what she says is true and she does already have the heart all she has to do is add it to the spell. It could happen at any moment." she told him. She continued to rub Roland's back absently. Holing the little boy in her arms managed to calm her nerves and remind her of the only time in her life she had been truly happy.

"Is there something you can do from this end? That could ensure that I would be with my son?" He asked her.

Regina thought for a moment. "I suppose there is the possibility of a binding spell." She told him.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Well it is a spell that was previously used for a kind of protection. It was often performed on the children of royals if there was a threat to their safety. Many times royal children were in danger of kidnapping for ransom or just slaughter all together so they would have no claim to the throne. Often times they were assigned a guard. A binding spell would be done between the child and their guard so that the guard would always know of where the child was and the child couldn't be removed from the guards care unless given permission by the person who performed the spell in the first place." she looked at him. "I couldn't be sure that it would work in the cursed world, but it is possible. It is a powerful spell that many wizards have attempted to break."

"Would you be willing to perform it on me and Roland?" He asked her.

She gave him a small smile. "I could but I can't promise it will work Robin."

"It's a chance though." He said with some hope.

"It is a chance." she replied.

XXXXXXXX

Storybrook Present Day

Mommy? Henry stared on as he watched his mother cuddle another child close. He couldn't seem to move. He watched as his Mom carried the little boy to a booth to join the man that was sitting there.

This wasn't right. He thought to himself. She was looking at this kid the way she used to look at him. She was _his _Mom. He heard her laugh as the boy told her something he couldn't overhear.

He hadn't expected this. He'd expected to find his mother miserable and alone but as he looked on he saw that not only did she have a son but she was greeted by the people in Granny's. She had friends in this version of Storybrook.

He watched her laugh and lean in to place a kiss to the child's head. He blinked back tears he hadn't realized had started to form. That should be him with his Mom. It was him, once.

It made him realize even more then he had when he'd gotten his memories back the he wanted his Mom…He wanted her back. He had to get out of here. He needed to go back to the alley and wait for Emma. They had to break the curse. She had to remember who she was so she would look at him the way she was looking at this other child again.

He turned to walk back out the door only to run into a redhead who had just walked in.

"I'm sorry." He said looking up into her face. He didn't remember ever seeing her before.

"You should watch where you are going." The woman said to him.

"I know…I'm sorry I just was trying to find my Mom." He told her.

The woman raised a brow. "I don't recall ever seeing you around here before." She studied him with curious eyes.

"My Mom and I are visiting." He answered feeling uneasy. "She and I split up and I was supposed to meet her here if I couldn't' find her." He lied knowing that Emma would be there in a matter of minutes.

"You should never wander to far away from your parents." The woman told him. "You never know who may mean you harm."

Henry swallowed. He felt uneasy with this woman. He looked back to the booth his mother was sitting in. She may not know who he was, but she would still protect him wouldn't she?

"Sheriff." The woman called out right then. Henry blinked when he saw the man his Mom was sitting with look their way. "This young boy seems to have been separated from his mother." The woman said.

The man in the booth stood and walked towards Henry. "Well we can't have that can we." The man looked down at Henry with a friendly smile. "Where was your mother when you saw her last son?"

"Umm…we were just kind of exploring the town." he tried to think up a lie. "She went into a store, but I wanted to play video games so I went to the arcade but they weren't open yet. My Mom told me to meet her here when I used all my quarters."

"So you're not lost after all, just a bit early." The man smiled at him.

"Yes sir" Henry answered.

"Well you are welcome to come and wait with my family if you would like." The sheriff told him.

Henry considered refusing but when he looked back to the door to see the redhead still looking at him curiously he thought it better to simply get away from her. He nodded. "Thank you."

The man laid a hand on his shoulder. "Sure thing. I'm Robin by the way." He told him as they walked to the table. "This is my wife Regina and our son Roland." He gestured to his Mom and the little boy.

Henry blinked when his Mom turned to look at him with a smile on her face. "Hi." Was all he managed to say.

"Hello" She answered him.

"This young man was supposed to meet his mother here, but he ended up being a bit early. I told him he was welcome to wait with us." Robin slid into the booth and Henry sat down beside him. "I don't believe I got your name."

He cleared his throat. "Henry." He told them.

"Hello Henry" His Mom answered him. She furrowed her brow at him. "Have you visited Storybrook before?" She asked. "I feel as if I've seen you somewhere."

Hope blossomed in Henry's heart. She remembered him…well sort of remembered him. He looked familiar at least. That was a good sign.

"No this is my first time here." He decided to lie just in case the redhead was still lurking somewhere listening.

"Hmm…" She paused still studying his face. "I could swear I've seen you before."

He smiled thrilled that she at least recognized him. "Maybe I just have one of those faces." He told her.

She smiled back at him. "Maybe." She agreed.

"How old are you Henry?" The little boy spoke up for the first time.

"Um…I'm twelve." He told him and cleared his throat. "How about you?"

"I'm five." The boy held up five fingers to let Henry know exactly how many that was. "Mommy says that I'm growing up to fast."

Henry felt a surge of jealousy hearing the boy call his Mom, Mommy. It only increased when Regina pulled the boy to her side and placed a kiss to his head. "Way to fast." she answered with a smile.

"Where do you live Henry?" The little boy asked as he cuddled into his Mom.

"New York." Henry said shortly. He didn't like this. He didn't like watching his Mom cuddle another child. She's not your Mom! His mind cried out to little boy cuddled into her side. She's mine!

"What brings you to Storybrook?" Robin asked from beside him.

Crap…he hadn't thought of a cover story…an actual reason for being there. Luckily he was saved when he heard the diner door open and looked up to see Emma walk in.

"Mom!" He waved feeling relief wash over him.

He saw relief flood her features when she saw him again. "The arcade was closed." He said quickly hoping she wouldn't blow his cover story. "So I got here a little early."

Emma cleared her throat as she walked as calmly as possible to the table. She felt relief flood every part of her body as she looked at her son in one piece…of course that wasn't going to stop her from killing him later. She still didn't feel able to speak.

"This is the sheriff, Robin" Henry told her. "His wife Regina" Henry gestured to the woman who they both knew was actually his mother. "And their…" Henry hesitated a moment not even wanting to say the word. "Their son Roland."

Emma swallowed surprised. She had not expected to find Regina married with a kid in this version of Storybrook.

She cleared her throat. "Hello…I'm Emma Swan." She smiled. "I'm this guy's Mom." she gestured to Henry.

"Hello Emma." Robin extended a hand to her and she took it. "Nice to have you both in town. What brings you here?" he asked.

Emma smiled and looked down to Regina for a moment who was looking at her curiously. "Oh, um, I'm actually a private investigator and I'm looking for someone I believe to be in the area."

"A criminal?" Robin asked.

She smiled. "No nothing like that. It's the daughter of a client who seems to have fallen in love over then internet and took off to meet him." She paused. "Actually perhaps you can help me though. I'm wondering who is the mayor of Storybrook?" She thought perhaps finding that out would help her figure out who cast the curse.

Robin smiled proudly. "You're looking at her." He gestured to Regina who smiled.

So much for that idea Emma thought wondering why the woman who cast the curse wouldn't have put herself in charge, but it did give her another idea on how to get Regina alone for a bit.

"Oh fantastic" Emma said. "I was actually wondering if perhaps I could pick your brain a bit…about the girl I'm looking for. After all who would know the town better then the mayor?"

Regina furrowed her brow. "Well I can't say that I've seen anyone new around town lately, I'm not sure how much help I would be."

"Probably more then you know…I don't really want to ask a lot of questions around town. The girl's father is in politics and we want to keep things as quiet as possible." Emma told her. "We are actually hoping maybe you can tell us something about the man she's with. If I could meet with you later privately I would really appreciate it."

Regina nodded. "You can call my office to see when I have some time available. My day today is full of meetings, but I believe I have some time tomorrow."

Emma smiled "Great!" She looked back to Henry who looked a little crestfallen that he wouldn't be getting his mother back today. "Henry, why don't we check into renting us a room?"

Henry nodded. "Ok." Henry looked directly at his brunette mother. "It was nice talking to you."

She smiled back at him. "You too Henry." She watched as the two of them began to walk away. "Ms. Swan" She called out and Emma turned back around. "Have you visited the town before? You and your son look so familiar to me, but I can't place it."

Emma smiled "Can't say that we have. Perhaps we saw each other somewhere else at some point."

Regina smiled. "Maybe."

XXXXXXXX

"This is a disaster!" Henry said as they walked into the hotel room.

"Henry us having to wait until tomorrow to see your Mom again isn't the end of the world." Emma answered him.

"I'm not talking about that." Henry said shortly. "I'm talking about her having a family…another kid."

Emma scrunched up her face. "So you would prefer for her to be miserable and alone?"

Henry let out a breath. "No…It's just…I just." He shook his head. "I don't know…she used to look at me like she was looking at that kid. She's my Mom, not his."

"Henry, she will look at you like that again as soon as she gets her memories back." Emma told him.

"What if she doesn't?" Henry wanted to know. "What if she likes this life better? She just seems so happy." He said as he sat down on the bed.

"A cursed happy isn't a real happy." Emma told him. "I think you and I know that better then anyone. Our false memories weren't real…they were wonderful and made us happy at the time, but we forgot about everyone else we love, people that we would never want to give up."

Henry looked down at his shoes. "I was so mean to her. For so long I was mean to her. I told her she wasn't my Mom I said horrible things to her. Maybe she really is happier in this life, with this kid that adores her."

"Henry." Emma crouched down so she could look him in the eye. "Regina doesn't blame you for any of that. She knows you were angry with her for lying and she was very sorry for what she put you through. One thing I learned when I was in Neverland with her was that she loves you more then anything in this world. She would never choose to be cursed with no memory of you…no matter how good her life may seem. She would want her son back. You mean to much to her. She would never want to be without you Henry."

Henry looked back up into her eyes. "You think so?"

"I know so." Emma answered him.

He sniffed. "Where's Hook?"

"I sent him to see if the old well is still there. It seems to be the center hub of magic here in Storybrook. If we are going to break the curse I'm guessing we will have to do it there…I just don't know how yet."

"Mom will…when she gets her memories back. She'll know what to do." Henry told her.

"I hope so." She smiled at him before shifting to sit next to him on the bed. "Did you see anyone else? My parents?" She asked him.

Henry shook his head. "No just Mom, I saw Archie on the street and Ruby was serving tables." Henry bit his lip. "There was a woman though…a redhead, someone I've never seen before. She kind of gave me the creeps."

"What did she say?" Emma asked.

"Nothing really…she just looked at me strangely. I don't know who she was." He told her.

"How about you stay away from this woman until the curse is broken and we have your Mom back and protecting you?" Emma asked.

"I won't argue with that." Henry answered her. "So what do we do now?"

"We wait until Hook gets back, then we go from there. I think it would be best just to act as if we are tourists, just passing through."

Henry nodded. "So do you think it will work? Do you think we can get Mom to drink the potion?"

"We have to." Emma answered.

XXXXXXXX

**Hope you guys are enjoying the story! I'm using a lot of references from the book Wicked, when going in to Elphaba's back story, but obviously adding my own twists. (#1 twist is that she doesn't die lol). I actually adore the character of Elphie so I'm super excited to be writing her! :)**

**Please Review and tell me how you like the story so far!**

**Come over to Tumblr and say hi! I'm thequeenstolemyheart there as well! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N Ok to answer a few questions. I really did consider changing Regina/Robin/Roland's names, but I decided against it simply to make it a bit easier for myself. When I was still writing EC a lot I had two fics going at once. In one I used the name David and in the other James and I got the two of them confused constantly. I thought this may help to not have as many errors.**

**You are not going to see a lot of character/relationship development in FTL because most of that is going to happen in Storybrook. This is a slow burn fic. What you are seeing in FTL is a build up to Elphie casting the curse. Once we get to that point I am going to move from flashing back to our main group and have some flashbacks to Elphie and her back story.**

**Hope this helps and if you have any more questions please feel free to ask!**

XXXXXXXX

Enchanted Forest Six Months Ago

"It's just that simple?" Robin asked still holding his son.

Regina smiled. "Yes, just a simple chant while you're holding on to each other is all it takes." She told him as she put the book away.

He set Roland down when he wiggled and the boy picked up his sword and began to play. "You don't really think it will work do you?" Robin asked.

Regina let out a sigh. It was best to be honest with him. "When the curse was in effect there was no magic in Storybrook." She told him. "I don't know that without magic it will do any good, but if magic is there or were to return somehow…"

"You mean if the curse breaks, which seems to have zero chance of happening." Robin said.

Regina looked at him in sympathy. "I know it isn't what you want to hear."

"You're right it's not." He told her. "Could you just pretend everything will be alright to help ease my mind?" He asked only half joking.

She smiled. "Everything will be alright."

He smiled wryly at her. "Thanks."

Her lips turned up a bit. "That didn't help at all did it?"

"No, but thanks for it anyway." He told her. "Are you worried? About yourself I mean? That witch does seem to have it out for you."

Regina shook her head. "I'm not really worried about myself. I really have nothing left to lose."

Robin looked at her for a moment. "What was your son like?" He asked.

Regina smiled. "A lot like Roland when he was younger. He was always so full of energy and looking for adventure. He brought so much love into my life. I didn't realize it was possible to love someone as much as I love him."

Robin nodded. "I understand that. There is nothing quite like the love a parent feels for their child."

"No there isn't." Regina agreed. "When he got older and starting figuring things out…about the curse and who I was he pulled away. He has such a definite distinction of right and wrong. He was so angry with me for so long."

Robin looked at the sadness on her face. "I guess most children have a very black and white view of the world. No real gray area."

Regina nodded. "You're either good or evil…there's not a lot of middle ground." She shook her head. "Things were changing though, before we came back I thought for a moment I could have him back in my life, but then I had to let him go so he could be happy."

"That was a brave thing you did Regina." He told her.

She gave him a small smile. "I hope he's happy. He has such a good heart, so pure and strong. Sometimes I wonder how it's possible that a raised such a fantastic kid."

Robin smiled and placed a hand on her arm. "I can see how it's possible." He told her with a small smile.

She blinked at him for a moment before smiling. She wasn't used to compliments. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"Thank you for doing this for my son and I. Even if it doesn't work I appreciate you trying." He told her.

"You're welcome."

XXXXXXXX

Elphaba waked out of the castle to the fire in the clearing, tonight was the night it would begin. She smiled a bit knowing that very soon she would get everything she wanted. No one quite knew her plans, this wasn't about the curse…that was simply a means to an end. It was about what would come after. She'd kept careful watch and knew that the timing was right.

She'd been excited to finally come face to face with the feared Evil Queen two nights before. She felt a shiver of anticipation over what was to come. Getting back at Regina was a side benefit of this curse. When it was all said and done the woman would know what t truly was to lose everything, just as she had.

Regina wasn't the only person she had plans for. It was really a shame that The Dark One was dead, she would have happily made him pay for his many sins, but no matter, there was still his son who could pay for him. No it wasn't just about the curse. All of their lives were about to change in a dramatic way, but the curse wasn't her final plan. It was just the icing on the cake if you will.

Then there was the lovely Snow White, daughter of the King and the champion do gooder. She would get what she wanted from all of them and before it was all over.

She walked up to the fire and held up the box in her hand. This was going to be the hardest part, letting go of the heart of her beloved son. She'd held on to it long after his death. She kept it with her as it was the only thing of her old life worth holding on to. She'd truly lost everything. Now anger and rage had overtaken her at the course of events that had brought her to this moment.

"I love you Liir." She murmured. "Very soon, I will avenge your death."

A tear rolled down her cheek as she threw his heart into the fire where the curse was burning. She watched as the smoke rose ready to take with it an entire land.

She gave a hint of a smile as she watched before vanishing into a puff of smoke.

XXXXXXXX

They heard it before they saw it. Regina and Robin turned to see the smoke rise into the sky.

"It's here." Regina said quietly.

"Roland!" Robin ran across the courtyard and picked up his son. "What do we do Regina?"

She looked back and saw the panic in his eyes as he held his son close. "We wait." she told him.

"Daddy what is that?" The little boy asked obviously afraid. Robin had no answer.

Regina looked at the little boy and wanted to do her best to ease the fear from his face. "It's something that is going to take us to another world." She told him. "To the place where my son and I used to live."

"Is it a good world?" He wanted to know.

She gave him a small smile. He would remember none of this in a few minutes. "It is, I loved it there." There was no point in telling him that their lives may not be good there. She didn't want him to spend the last few moments here in fear.

"Regina!" She heard her name called by Snow and turned. "Regina! It's the curse!"

"I know." She told her attempting to get the panicked girl to stop in front of Roland. "I'll be right there Snow." She turned back to look at Robin and Roland. She could see the fear in Robin's eyes that she knew would be reflected in her own if she were in his position. She turned her attention to the little boy who still looked worried. She walked to him and placed a hand on his face. "I will see you soon Sir Roland." she leaned in and placed a gentle kiss to his cheek before turning to the boys father. She placed a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him but there were no words to be said. The curse was coming and it was going to do what it would.

She gave him a soft smile of encouragement before turning and walking towards Snow and Charming and the rest of the group that had gathered in the court yard.

"Regina is there no way to stop it?" Charming asked.

"There isn't. I think we all know from before there isn't, it is unstoppable." Regina told him.

He turned to place an arm around Snow as they all watched the curse move closer. The group jumped collectively when the orange plume of smoke appeared in the courtyard and they once again found themselves staring at the green woman.

"How cozy." She told purred as she looked at the group huddled together. "It's so sweet that you would want to spend your final moments here all together."

Charming, a hero right through to the end decided in that moment to charge the woman with his sword.

She smirked an threw up a hand freezing him in place. "Oh my dear." She tsked. "Always acting before thinking it through. You didn't really think that would do anything did you?" The woman turned her attention to Snow. "Snow White at last we meet." she smiled. "I look forward to getting to know you better in the next few months." Elphaba looked down at Snow's stomach for a moment. "I can't wait to meet your child." She told her.

Regina looked from the woman to Snow. She didn't like the way she was looking at her. It was like an animal circling it's prey. They all lost their balance as the earth seemed to shake and the curse began to seep over the castle walls. Regina ran to Snow the enchantment she'd just used on Robin ringing in her memory.

"Snow!" She called to her as she got closer. "Take my hand!"

"Regina she wants my baby!" Snow said as Regina grabbed her hand. "She was looking at…Regina she can't get my baby!"

"I know." She'd wondered if Snow had seen the look in the woman's eyes when she looked at her stomach and it appeared that her former step daughter had come to the same conclusion she had.

Snow watched as Regina chanted something in a language that made no since to her. She blinked as magic surrounded them. "What was that?" She asked still clinging to Regina's hand.

"A long shot." Regina told her. The earth shook again and Regina and Snow were knocked off their feet.

"Regina I'm sacred." Snow told her still desperately clinging to her hand. In the cursed world her and her child would be at the mercy of this woman.

In an uncharacteristic move Regina wrapped an arm around Snow as the curse began to overtake all of the people around them. She pulled her completely into her arms as it crept closer. "It will be over in a minute." She tried to reassure knowing that was far from the truth. This part would be over in a moment, but the real curse was just beginning.

XXXXXXXX

Storybrook Present Day

"Six months?" Emma asked the man standing in front of her. "You just thought of telling me this now?"

Hook shrugged. "We were sort of preoccupied with other things…you just getting your memory back and then your panic to find Henry."

"Still you might have mentioned that they have been cursed for six months!" Emma told him. "What the hell took you so long?!" She wanted to know.

"Well love, it's like I told you, the fairies used a bit of experimental magic to get me back here. Things didn't exactly go as planned." He told her.

"So where were you?" Henry wanted to know.

"Wonderland." He told them and shuddered. "Horrid place."

"You were in Wonderland?!" Henry asked with some excitement. "How did you get here?"

"Well believe it or not it is quite difficult to get to the land without magic from any of the lands in our world. There are only a few portals that work here." He shook his head. "The only one that will work from Wonderland is the one that is dug by the White Rabbit. It took me months to find the bastard and nearly as long to convince him to help."

"Why wouldn't he want to help you?" Henry wanted to know.

"Well I made the mistake of mentioning that I had been to Wonderland before…" Hook started.

"You mentioned Cora." Emma finished for him.

Hook nodded. "So naturally he assumed I was there for some evil deed rather then to actually help a whole world. It took a while to convince him."

Emma sighed. "Well at least we know the well is here although I still have no idea how to make it work to bring back everyone's memories."

"Mom will." Henry told her. "I know she will."

Emma smiled at her son. "I hope you're right."

XXXXXXXX

Regina walked into the office the next morning feeling tired. She hadn't slept well the night before. She'd been plagued with strange dreams that she couldn't quite remember when she woke up.

She hadn't felt right since the morning before when she'd met the young boy at the diner. There had been something about him. Something familiar, as if she'd seen him before, but couldn't' place where it had been. After waking up several times in the night she'd finally given up on sleep and decided to come to the office early. She'd woken Robin before she left asking him to get Roland up and ready for school that morning.

She wasn't sure why but she couldn't seem to shake this feeling. It was almost a sense of foreboding, something she couldn't' explain. Well…at least she would get some paperwork done.

She made her way to her desk and looked down at her calendar for the day. She saw where here secretary had penciled in Emma Swan at three o'clock. It was her only meeting of the day so it did appear she would have some peace and quiet for a while.

She let out a breath as she sat down. She wished she had been able to rest more the night before. She placed her head in her hands and thought back trying to remember the strange dreams that had somehow left her feeling devastated and alone when she woke. She'd turned into Robin's arms seeking comfort there that he was more then willing to offer.

He always had a way of making her feel safe.

She'd met him in college. She'd been a Political Science major and he had studied Criminal Justice. She fallen madly in love with him and he with her. It had been a whirlwind romance that most thought wouldn't last. She'd feared when they graduated that he wouldn't want to come back to the small town she'd been raised in, but instead he'd surprised her just before graduation with a marriage proposal.

The years they had spent married to each other had been blissful. Sure they had their fights, but the love she felt for him now was just a strong as it had been then…stronger really. They'd grown together and made a family.

They'd waited several years before having children. Regina had wanted to establish herself and was proud to say that she was the youngest mayor elected to Storybrook. After she'd been elected mayor and Robin had been made sheriff they'd decided it was time to start their family. The day Roland had been born was the happiest day of her life…along with her wedding day. Her little boy was the light of her life.

Her mother had died when she was very young and her father while she was away at school. He'd had a heart attack and Regina had been devastated. It had been Robin who helped her through it. She truly had been one of the lucky ones. She'd found the man of her dreams at a young age.

Her father had left her the home they currently lived in. It had been her childhood home and Regina love being able to make memories there with her own family. She looked down at the picture of her husband and son she kept on her desk. They were so beautiful she thought to herself.

It made the feelings she'd started having the day before all the more confusing. Seeing the boy in the diner at Granny's…she couldn't explain it…she suddenly felt as if something was missing. It was as if something wasn't right.

She shook her head. Of course nothing was missing. She had the family she'd always dreamed of. How could anything possibly be missing?

She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. The headache that was forming behind her eyes was not a good sign. She was prone to migraines and she really hoped this wasn't the start of one coming on. She popped a couple of the pills into her mouth and took a drink of water. She might as well get some work done. She pulled the stack of reports to her and settled in for what could end up being a long day.

XXXXXXXX

"Ok Henry" Emma poured the potion into the cup of coffee and sloshed it around a bit. They had stopped at Granny's and ordered hot chocolate for themselves and Regina's regular. It was the perfect opportunity to get her to drink the potion. "Let me do the talking."

"Your really bad at this kind of thing Mom. I think you should let me get her to drink it. She's gonna think it's weird that you thought to bring her coffee." Henry told her.

Emma rolled her eyes. "She's not going to think it's weird Henry, she will think it's thoughtful."

"She's gonna think it's weird." He told her. "I know my Mom."

"Kid, she isn't herself here remember…she's pod Regina ok? It will be fine." She told him. She picked up the fake file that she had brought with her complete with false information about the "girl" she was looking for.

"You're gonna mess it up." Henry shook his head. "We only have one shot at this." He reminded her.

"You don't think I know that?!" She said getting frustrated. "I'm sure your answer is to just go in there and announce 'surprise I'm you kid' the way you did with me."

"Worked didn't it?" He asked.

"Henry, just let me do the talking ok?" She said with some finality.

Henry shrugged. He wasn't agreeing to anything.

When they walked through the door of City Hall Henry couldn't help but feel excited at the prospect of seeing his Mom again. He couldn't wait until she got her memory back so he could hug her. He just wanted to feel her put her arms around him the way she used to do.

"We're here to see Mayor Mills." Emma told the assistant at the desk. "Emma Swan."

The assistant nodded. "Yes Mayor Mills is expecting you, she said to go on ahead in when you arrived."

Emma blinked. Well that was different, before Regina had always made her wait at least fifteen minutes for no good reason other then to piss her off of course.

She made her way to the door with the tray of cups in her hand. She'd had Ruby write the names on the cups so she wouldn't get them mixed up. The last thing that needed to happen was for her or Henry to drink the potion by accident.

She gave a quick knock to the door before poking her head in. "Mayor Mills?" Emma asked.

Regina looked up from her desk and gave a tight smile. He head was still pounding and she was nearly certain that this was indeed the start of a migraine. "Yes Ms Swan, come on in."

Emma pushed the door open and started to speak, but Henry grabbed the cup from the tray and walked it over to Regina. "Hi Regina, Mom and I stopped to pick up some hot chocolate and I had the idea to order you your regular as a thanks for letting me sit with you guys yesterday."

Emma wanted to strangle her offspring until she saw Regina smile. "Well that was very sweet of you Henry." She took the cup from him. "Thank you." She held the cup a little closer to her face and let the smell of the coffee flood her senses. "I could actually use a cup of coffee right now." She told him.

"Rough day?" Henry asked.

Regina smiled a little amused at him. "It hasn't been horrible but I'm afraid I didn't get much sleep last night." She told him. "I think this is just what the doctor ordered though." She took a drink nearly moaning at the pleasure of the warm liquid moving down her throat.

Henry stood staring at her for a minute as if he were expecting something to happen. She smiled at him. "Have you enjoyed your visit to Storybrook so far?" She asked.

Henry smiled a little distractedly. Why wasn't anything happening? "Yeah…I like the playground." He told her.

Regina smiled. "And were you ever able to make it to the arcade? I'm sure you were disappointed yesterday that it wasn't open yet." She picked up her coffee and took another sip.

Maybe she had to drink it all. Henry thought to himself. "Yeah, um I think I'll probably go there later."

She smiled at him again. "You'll have to tell me what you think of it." She told him. "I'm not sure if it can compare to the ones in New York, but my son seems to like it."

Henry smiled a little sadly again to hear her call another child her son. "I'm sure it will be great." He told her.

"Henry" Emma said. "Why don't you have a seat on the sofa and play your DS while I talk to the Mayor." If Henry continued to look at Regina as if her were expecting something to happen she feared she may catch on. They needed her to drink the rest of that potion.

Henry let out a breath. "Ok" He told her and moved to the couch still watching Regina from the corner of his eye.

Emma smiled at Regina as she sat in front of her desk. "Here's the file I have on the guy this girl ran away with. We don't have a lot of information, just his screen name and pictures. I have a computer guy working on hacking the system to get me a name. Right now we only know she came to this area."

Regina took another drink of her coffee before taking the file from Emma. She opened it and began looking over the information. "I can't say that I recognize him." she told her and moved the picture on top. She looked up at Emma amused. "His screen name was love-machine?"

Emma smiled as she watched Regina take another sip of her coffee. Any time now potion…any time. "Original huh?" Emma gave a half laugh. "The girl knows how to pick them it would seem."

"I'm sorry Ms Swan, but I can't say that I recognize him, if you come back once you have a name perhaps I could help you then." Regina told her. She took another sip of her coffee then raised a hand to her temple as her head began to pound.

"That's ok." Emma answered her. "It was a long shot." she glanced around trying to find a reason to hang around until Regina finished her coffee. She cleared her throat. "How long have you been Mayor?" She asked.

Regina gave a tight smile. "This is my second term."

"Second?" Emma asked "Wow, you must have been pretty young when you started."

Regina took the final drink of her coffee and placed the cup aside. "I was." she answered. "I was twenty eight." She pinched the bridge of her nose as her vision began to blur.

Emma cleared her throat. "Are you ok?"

Regina gave a tight smile and nodded. "I've been fighting off a head ache all day. I've been prone to occasional migraines."

"Oh, sorry to hear that." She looked back to Henry unsure what to do next. They both looked up when the sheriff walked into the room followed by the little boy.

"Hi Mommy" The boy greeted running behind the desk to hug his mother. Emma watched as Regina smiled and brought an arm up to hug her son.

Emma looked at a scowling Henry. If Regina's memories came back now it would certainly raise some questions with her "husband."

"I'm sorry." He apologized quickly. "I didn't realize you had a meeting."

Regina looked up to Robin and squinted a bit as the light was hurting her eyes. "It's ok dear, we were just finishing up." Regina told him.

"Regina" Robin moved to her side. "Are you ok?" Her skin had paled considerably.

"I'm fine." she shook her head. "I believe I have a migraine coming on is all."

"We should go." Emma stated. "Thank you for your time Mayor Mills, I'll be in touch."

Regina nodded as the pain in her head increased. "Thank you Ms. Swan, I'm sorry about this." Regina was rarely sick and never showed weakness, but the sudden head ache hit her hard.

Emma watched as a concerned Robin helped her from her chair. "It's not problem, like I said I'll be in touch."

"Mom…" Henry whispered as she grabbed his coat and ushered him outside. "We can't leave…did she even finish her coffee? What happens if she remembers?"

"She finished it Henry and us hanging around while she is on the verge of a migraine would look strange." Emma told him.

"She drank it all?" Henry questioned.

"Yes." Emma answered.

"So why isn't it working?" Henry wanted to know. "Why isn't she remembering?"

Emma shook her head. "I don't know Henry…maybe there is like some kinda expiration date on magic potions." Emma told him.

"Or maybe there's just no magic here." Henry answered. "What are we gonna do?! That potion was out only shot."

Emma looked down at his worried expression. "Try not to worry kid, we'll just go back to the hotel and regroup. We'll figure it out."

"How?!" Henry wanted to know. His eyes were welling up with tears.

Emma wished she had an answer for him. "I don't know…plan B"

"What is plan B?" He asked.

"Um…I hold her down while you tackle her with true loves kiss." she tried hoping to see him smile.

"True loves kiss won't work if she doesn't even remember me." He looked down at his shoes.

"Hey kid," Emma tilted up his chin to look at her. "We'll think of something…we always do"

XXXXXXXX

Regina rolled over as Robin walked into the bedroom shielding her eyes from the light that filtered in.

"Did you get Roland into bed ok?" Regina asked him.

"Yes. He says I'm not as good of a storyteller as you are, but I promised him that you would tuck him in tomorrow night." Robin told her as he stripped down to his boxers for bed.

"Maybe I should just go and give him a kiss goodnight." Regina said moving to get out of the bed.

Robin laid a hand on her arm. "He's fine Regina he knows you're not feeling well and he was nearly asleep before I left the room."

Regina sighed and laid back. "I don't like not tucking him in at night."

Robin laid down beside her and placed a light kiss to her forehead. "I know, but one night isn't going to hurt. You just worry about getting your rest and feeling better."

She sighed as she looked at him in the moonlight that filtered into the room. She very often felt as if she were the luckiest woman on the planet. She smiled softly. "Thank you for taking care of me tonight."

He lifted his hand to her hair. "I will always take care of you."

She rolled into his chest and allowed herself to be soothed by the feel of his hand rubbing her back. Perhaps a good night's sleep would help her shake the migraine that had plagued her most of the day.

XXXXXXXX

Emma stepped out of the room after getting Henry to sleep. She shut the door quietly then leaned back against it. She was doing her best to stay upbeat for Henry but she was worried. Why hadn't the potion worked? What in the hell were they supposed to do now?

She let out a groan and slid down the door to sit on the floor. She glanced up when Hook opened the door of his room.

"I thought I heard someone out here." He said to her.

Emma said nothing but continued to look at him.

He walked too her and sat down on the floor next to her. "Feeling a little overwhelmed?"

Emma shook her head. "What are we going to do? We were completely dependent on the potion working and Regina getting her memories back."

Hook stared straight ahead. "Perhaps there has to be magic for the potion to work." He mused.

"And the only way to get magic to work is for Regina to remember who she is." Emma said. "I sure the hell don't know how to do it."

"You have magic though Emma, we just need to do a bit of research see what we can find out. Perhaps we could visit Gold's old shop. I'm sure there's something that will tell us something there." Hook told her.

"Gold's dead." Emma stated. "Is his shop even still there."

Hook nodded. "It is, but now it's ran by a redheaded woman. I did a little exploring around town while you and Henry were trying to uncurse Regina."

Emma furrowed her brow. "Henry said that he saw a redheaded woman at the diner that gave him the creeps. Is that the woman who cast the curse?"

"I'm not sure, I never actually saw the woman in the Enchanted Forest." Hook told her. "The rumor is that she was green."

"Green" Emma looked at him in disbelief. "As in Wicked Witch of the West green?"

"Yes, I believe that is what they called her come to think of it." Hook answered.

"Of course she's the Wicked Witch." Emma said rolling her eyes. "Who the hell else would she be?" Emma went back in her mind wondering just when in the hell her life had taken this insane turn. Wicked Witches, Evil Queens, Rumpelstitskin, Captain Hook, Snow White…What was next? Voldemort?

"How's the lad doing?" Hook asked her.

"He's upset. He really thought he was going to get Regina back today. He was devastated when it didn't work." She told him.

"How are you holding up with all of this?" Hook wanted to know.

Emma sighed and looked at him. "It's strange, having two lifetimes in your head." She shook her head. "Even though I know that the memories of keeping Henry weren't real…they are still there." she explained. "They still feel real. I can't begin to explain how devastating it his to know that they're not."

Hook laid his hand on Emma's shoulder. "I'm sorry I had to wake you up from that. I'm sorry you couldn't just stay happy."

Emma looked back up at him. "But it wasn't a real happy was it?"

Hook shook his head. "I don't know, sometimes I think an imaginary life would be better…a fake happy is better then being miserable I suppose." Emma took a deep breath and stared ahead of her again. "It's not just the memories and the potion not working today is it?" Hook asked her. "Something else is bothering you."

"Henry and I walked around town today, looking for people we know. We saw everyone…Archie, Ruby, Granny, My father, Belle, I even caught a glimpse of Neal leaving The Rabbit Hole." She told him.

"Well at least you know they are ok." Hook stated.

"I didn't see my mother." Emma looked at him. "I looked everywhere, her old apartment, the school. We sat in Granny's nearly two hours waiting for her to show up…she never did."

Hook took her hand into his. "I'm sure she's fine Emma, We'll find her."

Emma nodded but was far from convinced. "I hope you're right."

XXXXXXXX

_Regina hummed as she rocked her sweet baby boy to sleep. It was so peaceful to hold a sleeping baby. She never knew she could love this much. _

"_Roland, I never want you to forget how much Mommy loves you." She whispered to the child._

_She continued to hum as she heard a strange voice echo in her head…"I can promise you now that before the end of this you will know what it's like to have all you've ever dreamed of…and you will know what it is to lose it."_

_Regina looked around trying to see where the voice was coming from, when she saw nothing she stood and placed Roland into his bed. She continued to hear the strange laugh come from all around her. She began to feel panicked and ran back to the bed to pick her son back up and flee from the room but when she got to the bed he was gone. _

"_Roland!?" she cried out in panic as she frantically searched the room._

_She found herself in the diner suddenly still frantically searching for her little boy, but everyone there were like statues, no one moved except her._

"_Roland!" She looked around at the motionless faces. "Someone please help me find my son!" She turned to run out of the diner and found herself facing the boy she'd met two days before._

"_I'm right here Mom." he told her smiling._

"_I…" She paused looking at the boy. "I'm looking for my son." She told him again._

"_I am your son." He told her. _

_She suddenly found herself on the edge of town, tears rolling down her cheeks as she told her son goodbye. She held him close to her and when she pulled back it was Henry's face she saw. _

"_Henry?" She heard herself say._

"Henry!" Regina sat up in bed covered in sweat and tears rolling down her face. She couldn't seem to catch her breath. She glanced over with wide eyes as the man next to her sat up and placed a hand on her back.

"Bad dream?" he asked calmly obviously attempting to soothe her with the hand on her back.

She blinked at him in near shock. Robin…her husband…except that he wasn't her husband at all.

XXXXXXXX

**Ok, I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty excited about this chapter. I really hope you all liked it. I thought it would be good to go into Regina's cursed memories a bit. Please leave me a review and tell me what you thought.**

**I am working on the update to Starting Over. I've gotten stuck a few times on that one. I know where I want it to go, I'm just having trouble figuring out how to get it there. **

**In case you don't follow me on tumblr I did want to add a note here as well that there is apparently a girl who is trying to get fics taken down that have any sex scenes in them. Technically it is against 's policy, though why they have the M rating if that is the case baffles me. Anyway there have been some SQ fics that have been taken down. I am working on setting up an account on AO3 as well as here. I should be able to get it done in the next few days. If for some reason one of my fics gets pulled from here you will be able to find them there as well. I'm hoping this doesn't happen and mine just get overlooked, but if it does you will still be able to find them. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you to everyone who read, followed and reviewed the last chapter. Sorry for the delay in getting this one out…real life sometimes gets in the way.**

XXXXXXXX

Regina stared at Robin with wide eyes. This wasn't her husband. She wasn't Mrs. Locksley. They hadn't fallen in love in college, they hadn't spent ten years married to each other and Roland wasn't…oh God…Roland wasn't her little boy.

It had all been a lie.

Henry…Henry was here…he was in Storybrook. Her son, she thought she'd never see him again, but he's here.

Her heart pounded in her ears as Robin slipped an arm around her. "Hey, it's ok. It was just a dream." He placed a kiss to the side of her head.

But it wasn't a dream. The blissful life they had spent together was all a lie. She glanced at the clock on the bed side table…5:30.

Regina threw back the covers and climbed out of bed. She couldn't talk…she couldn't think. Her head was a blur of memories, both real and imagined. The dream still swirled in her mind. Roland had disappeared. She'd been desperate to find him, but someone took him away.

"Regina?"

She ran from the room and made her way to Roland's door, pushing it open the moment she got there. She took a breath of relief when she saw him laying in his bed. She sagged against the door frame attempting to calm her breathing. He was here, he was ok.

Henry, she had to find Henry.

She jumped when she felt Robin place his hand against her back again. She turned in a near panic only to be stopped by the hands he placed gently on her arms. "Regina everything is ok now. You were dreaming darling that was all."

But it wasn't ok! She wanted to shout at him, nothing was ok! She took another deep breath in an attempt to calm herself.

"Did you dream about Roland?" He asked.

Obviously the curse hadn't been broken over the whole town…he didn't remember. It was only her. She had to answer him before he began to think she was losing it.

She nodded her head slowly. "I couldn't find him…I…I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find him.

Robin pulled her into his chest. "He's right here darling. Everything is fine."

Regina allowed her arms to come around him for a moment. False memories of a happy life at the forefront of her mind. She swallowed hard and pulled back. She had to get out of here, she had to see Henry. She needed to see her son.

She licked her lips as she looked up at Robin and nodded. "I'm ok…It just shook me. I…I don't think I will be able to go back to sleep though."

He brought a hand up to push her hair back from her face. "You can try, it's still pretty early and considering that migraine you had last night you really should try to get your rest. I promise to hold you so those bad dreams don't come back again."

Regina shook her head. "No" She paused and tried a light smile. "Really, I'm fine and because of the migraine I didn't get much done at the office yesterday." She took another breath to steady herself. "It would probably be best for me to go in early anyway." She wanted to just run from the house, but couldn't take the chance of making things look strange. Robin still had no idea who he was and it wasn't as if she could just tell him that he had been under a curse all this time.

"Are you sure?" He asked looking at her with concern. "You still look pretty pale."

"I'm sure." She told him. "Really I'm fine, that dream just shook me. You know how that migraine medication can be it probably caused the dream to begin with."

He leaned in and placed a kiss to her forehead. "If you're sure."

She nodded. "I am." she tried giving him a smile again so he would believe her.

"Ok." He agreed. "I will bring Roland by after school, before I go in tonight."

Regina smiled unsure what to say. It had all been a lie.

XXXXXXXX

Emma awoke to the pounding on the door. She looked around groggily before remembering where she was and why she was here.

Storybrook…the cursed town of a bunch of fairy tale characters that she just so happened to belong in. She glanced at the clock and groaned.

Who in the hell would be pounding on her door at 6AM?

"Mom." Henry whined from the rollaway bed beside her. "There's someone at the door."

"I hear them." Emma said as she threw back the covers. It was probably Hook. She was going to tear his head off for waking her at this ungodly hour…right after she had her coffee.

She pulled the door open to find Regina who stared at her with wide eyes.

"Emma." It was all she said but the tone of her voice had Emma lifting an eyebrow.

"Regina." Emma said back even as she heard Henry shoot up in bed.

Regina furrowed her brow her eyes already filling with tears as she looked over Emma's shoulder at her little boy.

"Henry." A small smile formed on her face even as the first tear fell.

The boy flung the covers back and was out of the bed like a shot. "Mom!"

Emma stepped out of the way as Regina moved past her and caught Henry as he launched himself at her. Regina couldn't speak as she held her little boy close to her. Her eyes were overflowing with tears and she felt nearly close to sobbing. She never thought she would have this chance again.

'Henry…Baby." She pulled back holding his face gently. "I need to look at you." She ran her hand gently along his cheek and let out a laugh that turned to a sob. "You're so handsome…so grown up." She told him pulling him back into her so she cold hold him as tight as possible.

Henry pressed his face into her shoulder. "Mom, I was afraid you wouldn't remember. I was afraid the potion wouldn't work. As soon as I saw you again I wanted to hug you so bad, but I couldn't." He cried into her shoulder.

"I'm here now baby." She soothed running her hand over his back. "I missed you so much Henry when we went back. You were all I thought about everyday."

"I love you Mom." Henry tightened his grip around her waist.

Regina brought a hand up to stroke the back of his head. "I love you so much Henry."

They couldn't be sure how long they stood there holding each other. Regina felt nearly positive that she would never be able to let him go again. When she had said goodbye to him at the town line she'd been sure she would never see him again. The thought of never holding her child again had caused a physical ache every day she'd been without him, but he was here, he was in her arms and she never wanted to let him go again.

Henry was in no more of a hurry to let go then Regina was. Every since he got his memory back he had longed to feel her arms around him. It was so comforting to be held by her and truly made him feel that he was home. Now…this moment here with his Mom he could finally believe that everything would be alright again.

"How did you remember?" Henry asked against her shoulder. "When we left you yesterday the potion still hadn't worked."

Regina swallowed and pulled back to look at her son ready to answer him but stopped. Tears filled her eyes all over again as she stared and shook her head. "You've gotten so tall Henry…" She brought a hand up to his face. "You've grown so much."

Henry smiled slightly at her. "I'm almost as tall as you now."

Another tear fell down her face. "I know."

Henry looked at her from under his lashes and smirked a bit. "I guess that isn't really saying much though since you are kind of short."

Regina laughed through a sob and pulled him back into her. "Is this what you getting taller is going to get me?" She asked. "Short jokes?"

Henry pulled back and grinned at her. "I can't help it if I'm about to pass you up in the height department…looks like your gonna have to find you some higher heels."

"If she wears any higher then the ones she has there is no way she will be able to stand." Emma spoke for the first time since the reunion. She had watched as the two of them cried in each others arms then had been amused by their light banter. Henry had told her when they first received their memories back that Regina had actually given them her own memories from Henry's childhood. If that were true that left the blonde a lot to think about.

From the way Henry had acted when he first came to find her she had honestly thought there had been no happy memories between the two of them. Henry had certainly made it sound that way. As it turned out Henry had exaggerated on their first meeting. The memories that she had been given of their own life together had indeed been happy…but they weren't hers, they were Regina's.

Regina and Henry had been happy once. It had been clear to Emma from fairly early on that the two of them did love each other. From Regina's terrified near hysterical reaction to Henry being lost in the mine to Henry begging Emma to protect her after the curse had broken. There was love there. It was a deeper love then she had even understood then.

But she understood it now and if her memories of she and Henry's life were any indication then she couldn't say she had blamed her son in his desperation to get to his other mother.

Emma took a deep breath. His other mother…He had more then one now. She felt the pang in her heart even as she smiled after making the joke about Regina's ridiculous heels.

Regina glanced back up at Emma for the first time. "How did you remember?" She asked before looking back to her son. "How did you end up back here?"

"Hook." Emma answered. "He figured out a way to cross worlds and brought us the book."

"I remembered first." Henry told her.

Regina turned to smile back at her son. "Of course you did." She brought a hand up to his face. "You do have the heart of the truest believer."

Henry smiled as he took her hand and pulled her over to the bed to sit down. He sat beside her and cuddled into her side when she wrapped an arm around him. Emma moved to the bed opposite them and sat down to face them.

"What about you?" Emma asked. "We thought for sure I was going to have to hold you down while Henry tackled you with true loves kiss after it seemed the potion didn't work."

Regina smiled a little and tightened her hold on her son. "It appears it did work, just a bit delayed. I had a nightmare and woke up with my memories."

Emma nodded before it finally occurred to her what that meant. "Wait woke up…so you were with your…um…husband when your memories came back?"

Regina nodded. "Indeed I was."

Emma made a face. "Wow I bet that was awkward."

Regina took a breath. "That is an understatement. What's even more awkward is that he still has no idea that he isn't actually married to me."

"Hmm…" Emma just made a sound. It had to be pretty weird to believe you were married to someone only to wake up one day to find you weren't.

"Mom do you have any idea who cast the curse?" Henry wanted to know.

Regina nodded. "I do." She told them. "Her name was Elphaba, she is otherwise known as…"

"The Wicked Witch of the West." Emma finished and shrugged. "What?" she said when Regina only looked at her. "I've seen Wicked."

"Oz is real?!" Henry said with some excitement.

Regina made a face of disgust. "Apparently so."

"Of course it's real." Emma threw in. "Why wouldn't it be real?! Why wouldn't any of this be real?! Why wouldn't I be the daughter of freaking Snow White and Prince Charming?!"

Regina raised a brow at Emma's mini rant. "Are you finished?"

"Not quite…I just need to throw in how sick I am of fairy tales." Emma added.

"You'll forgive me for not feeling sorry for you dear, but I did just wake up next to a man who is convinced he's my husband even though if he was in his right mind he would most likely be sickened by the idea that he's actually married to The Evil Queen."

"Don't forget the kid that isn't really your son." Henry threw in.

Regina felt a pang when she thought of Roland. The boy that she had five years worth of memories of. If she was honest with herself she felt that same pang when she thought of Robin, but she couldn't allow herself to go there now…not when she was holding her son in her arms again.

Emma watched Regina swallow and say nothing to Henry's comment about the little boy she'd been raising.

"So what now?" Emma changed the subject. "How do we break this thing?"

Regina shook her head. "I have no idea." She told her.

"Great!" Emma clapped her hands. "So we're no better off then we were yesterday."

"No, we're better off." Henry said as he cuddled into his mother's side.

"Regina" Emma started. "We explored the town a little yesterday and we saw everyone…of course none of them knew us, but everyone was there…except one person. I didn't see my mother anywhere."

Regina nodded as she brought a hand up to stroke Henry's head. "I haven't seen her in the time we've been here." She looked back up into Emma's eyes. "I don't know where she is."

"Is it possible she got left behind?" Emma wanted to know.

Regina shook her head. "I was with her when the curse took the land."

"Yeah, but I mean maybe there was a glitch or something…like she was protected somehow, or the curse didn't overtake her, people were protected before when your mother cast the spell to stop your curse from taking them." Emma answered.

"No one knew the spell my mother used." Regina answered and looked at Emma with something that looked like sadness in her eyes. "The curse took her Emma…I was with her, we were holding on to each other."

Emma raised a brow at that even as Henry pulled back from her side. "You were holding on to Grandma?"

Regina nodded. "The witch showed up just as the curse was about to take all of us. I saw the way she looked at Snow…or maybe the better thing to say is I saw the way she looked at her stomach. She wanted that baby." Regina swallowed. "I had just done a binding spell on Robin and Roland in the hopes that they wouldn't be separated during the curse and it was still in my mind. I ran to your mother and used it on her so the two of us would be bound."

"So then you can find her." Emma stated.

Regina shook her head again. "Not without magic."

Emma let out a breath as she stood up to pace. "But you just said that you used it on Robin and Roland so they wouldn't be separated and it worked! So why can't it work now?"

"Because it didn't work." Regina explained.

Emma turned back to look at her. "You're not making any sense Regina."

Regina took a breath. "The spell was a long shot and I told them that from the beginning. It wouldn't work without magic but I performed it anyway just in case magic were ever to enter Storybrook again…so they would be able to find each other."

"But it did work!" Emma argued. "They are together here."

"I didn't" Regina answered. "If it had then your mother would have been with me when we began living our cursed lives."

"So Robin and Roland being together was just a coincidence?" Emma asked.

"No." Regina looked up at her. "It was part of her plan…putting them with me was part of her plan."

"But why?" Henry asked. "I thought the curse was meant to make people miserable."

Regina looked down at her son. "People can be given any memories that the caster wants them to have." she explained. "She wanted me to have happy memories…of a life I dreamed of as little girl."

Emma sat back down on the bed. "A family…with the white picket fence?" She asked.

Regina smirked a little. "Something like that."

"Why would she want to give you your childhood dream?" Emma wanted to know.

Regina shook her head. "I don't know…I know she has a vendetta against me, although I have never met her." She looked down at her son then back up to Emma. "I can't be sure this is why but I suspect that she wanted to give me my childhood dream so I would be heartbroken when they are taken away."

Emma raised a brow at her. "Will you be?"

Regina felt the pang in her heart again but ignored it and shrugged. "I'm used to people leaving me."

Emma blinked she could see the pain in her eyes but chose to say nothing. "But if she wanted it all to be taken away then that would mean she _wants_ the curse to be broken."

Regina nodded in confirmation. "Us breaking the curse could be playing directly into her hands."

"So what the hell are we supposed to do?" Emma asked. "Just go on like nothing is happening? Not break the curse?"

"No." Regina answered. "We still break it. We have to…but I think we should do it on our terms."

"Meaning what?" Emma asked.

Regina shook her head. "For now we have to pretend as if nothing has changed. The curse can be broken without bringing magic back…it was broken by you and Henry before and Gold was the one who brought magic back later. We have to figure out how to get magic back when we break it otherwise we may never find your mother."

"Do you know where this woman is now?" Henry asked.

"I do." Regina answered. "She runs Gold's shop."

"Great so she is in charge of everything in the town that may have magical properties." Emma answered.

"Maybe." Regina said. "We need to get into the library. I can give you some books that we are going to need to figure out our next step."

"If they're going to help us then how do you know they are in the library?" Emma wanted to know.

"Because they are." Regina answered. "They were there in my curse as well…many are…I guess coded would be the right word. They seem to be fictional stories when really there are objects and meanings behind many of the things written."

"Ok. So we get the books then what." Emma asked.

"We figure out what we need. There is a town meeting on Monday, and Elphaba always comes to the town meetings. While she is there you will slip into the shop to get the things we need."

"I can help!" Henry piped up.

"No!" His mothers both said in unison.

"Aww come on!" Henry whined.

Regina brought her hand up to stroke his cheek again. "It's to dangerous and I am not about to send you on a dangerous mission after I just got you back."

Henry huffed out a breath. "I never get to do any of the exciting stuff." He complained.

"I should get to the office before anyone questions where I am…I don't want her to suspect I have my memories back." Regina told them and pulled a piece of paper from her purse. She jotted down the titles to the books they would need and handed it to Henry. "I will put you in charge of this mission though." She told him and placed a kiss to his forehead.

Emma nodded. "We'll get the books, pick up breakfast and meet you at your office."

Regina nodded before turning back to Henry and pulling him into her arms. "I'm not ready to let you out of my sight yet."

Henry pulled back and grinned. "It's ok Mom, once Operation…" He paused "I haven't thought of a name for this one yet."

Regina smiled at him. "We'll think of one at my office later." she told him.

Henry smiled and nodded. "Once it's all over you won't ever have to let go of me again." He told her.

She smiled back down at him. "I hope you're right my prince."

XXXXXXXX

They had been at it most of the day. Operation Twister was in full swing. Henry had thought of the name because on the Wicked Witch and it had been a twister that dropped a house on her sister. From what Regina could tell there were a few things that had magical properties to help bring memories back, but most of them consisted of potions…which needed magic. The only thing that it seemed would work was true love. It had been true loves kiss that had broken the first curse and the true love potion that brought magic back.

"How did Gold make the potion?" Emma asked as she glanced through another book.

"He took a hair from your mother and father." Regina told her. "Unfortunately we can't replicate that because we have no idea where your mother is and even if we did, it wouldn't work because they have to remember each other in order for it to be true love. You can't have true loves kiss when you don't remember your true love."

Henry piped up. "But we remember each other! Emma woke me up with true loves kiss and I know that you could to Mom! What if we used our hair to make a potion and drop that into the well?"

Regina furrowed a brow. "It might work."

They all looked up when the door flew open. "Mommy!" Roland called out and ran to her. "Look what I made you in school today!" He held up a necklace that had been made with various shapes and colors of pasta.

Regina gave him a wide smile and pulled him into her lap. "I love it sweetheart!" She bent her head so that he could slip it around her neck. "It is absolutely beautiful!" She placed a kiss on his head then looked up to see Henry scowling at the two of them.

Emma noticed the look their son was giving Roland and chimed in with. "I think that is the best pasta necklace I have ever seen Roland!"

Roland turned and beamed at her. "It looks pretty on Mommy."

"Indeed it does." They heard from the doorway and turned to see Robin leaning against the frame.

Regina blushed slightly completely unsure how to act around him now that she knew the truth.

"Hello again Emma" Robin greeted then turned to the scowling boy beside her. "Henry"

"Hi sheriff." Emma smiled and nudged Henry in the side.

"Hey" The boy answered.

"Mommy I wanna watch a video on the puter." He told her.

"Computer angel." Regina corrected automatically.

Roland gave her a mischievous grin. "I like puter better."

Regina laughed and stood with him in her arms to carry him to her desk. She set him up with the headphones she kept in her office for him. Once he was settled in she turned to find Robin standing just behind her and blinked.

"I'll be working the late shift tonight so you will probably be asleep when I get home." He told her as he brought his arms around her waist.

Regina just swallowed and nodded her head.

He leaned in to her a little. "I'm off tomorrow so maybe we can spend the day together." He smiled as he pressed a gentle kiss to her lips.

Regina cleared her throat. "Yes…um I hope it's ok but I invited Emma and Henry for dinner tomorrow night." She shrugged a little. "I thought it would be nice since the town rarely gets visitors."

He smiled at her. "Sure." He leaned in again for another kiss and pulled back after a moment. "Darling are you ok? You still seem a bit off."

Regina smiled and shook her head. "I'm fine." She told him. "Still just a little shaken from my dream last night is all." She was going to have to get better at this she thought to herself. She had to last through the weekend until Emma could break into the pawn shop on Monday. She smiled and leaned forward to place a kiss to his cheek…that's what her cursed self would have done.

He smiled at her. "Ok, I love you."

Regina smiled and nodded.

Robin leaned in to place one more kiss to her cheek before turning to leave. He nodded at Emma and Henry who had quickly went back to what they were doing attempting to pretend that they hadn't been watching Regina with her cursed husband. "Emma, Henry" Robin said as he walked out the door. "I will see you two at dinner tomorrow night."

Emma smiled. "Yeah, see ya tomorrow night."

When Robin walked out and left them alone again Regina quietly walked back to the table to sit beside them.

"Is there still a kitchen down the hall?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded. "Yes."

Emma turned to Henry. "Hey kid, why don't you go down and see if you can rustle us up some drinks and a snack…I'm starving."

Henry nodded feeling a little hungry himself. "Ok." He turned and bolted from the room.

Emma looked back to find Regina watching Roland on the computer. "It's rough isn't it?" She asked and continued when Regina looked back at her. "Having two lifetimes in your head?"

Regina nodded and looked back to the boy that sat at the computer. "I remember raising him…I remember holding him when he cried out for me. I remember everything." She sighed. "I'm going to lose him."

Emma reached forward and laid a hand on Regina's arm. "When I first got my memories back…I was happy, but I was devastated…still am really. I didn't actually raise Henry, but it all still feels so real."

"To us it is real" Regina answered. "Remembering your old life…it doesn't take away your cursed memories…now all of a sudden I have memories of raising a little boy I didn't raise but…" she shook her head. "I love him."

Emma didn't bother to ask about her cursed husband. It wasn't the time. "Breaking the curse won't take away his memories either…you may not lose him all the way."

Regina looked up at Emma. "When Robin remembers…" She shook her head and laughed. "Would you want the Evil Queen in your son's life?"

When Emma only smirked and raised a brow Regina laughed. "Well I suppose you don't have a choice."

"You're not her anymore Regina…and you gave Henry and happy childhood." Emma paused for a moment. "He told me the memories you gave us were yours."

Regina looked down for a moment. "We were happy once."

Emma smiled. "I know."

XXXXXXXX

Regina settled into bed with what seemed to be a million different thoughts running through her head. She had hated saying goodbye to her son that night more then anything in the world, but it had to be done…at least until they were able to break the curse.

She held Roland a bit longer that night as she put him to bed. She couldn't explain how all of this made her feel. It was if the memories of the life she knew was real and also the one she knew wasn't all ran together. She did love Roland…how could she not? She had memories of raising him and loving him.

But they weren't real…none of them were.

They'd come to the conclusion that the witch wanted her curse broken. Regina had to admit if she wanted to hurt her giving her this double life in her head and ripping part of it away from her would certainly be effective. She was going to lose her family…the one she had years of memories with.

She couldn't explain her feelings…even to herself. She had Henry and she wouldn't trade him for anything, but the heartbreak of losing this part of her family. That was going to tear her apart.

She snapped her eyes shut as she heard Robin come through the door. It was better to pretend to be asleep then to let him know she was awake and cause another awkward moment. She concentrated on evening her breathing as she felt him climb into bed and attempted to stay still as he scooted behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. She chanced a glance down at the arm he wrapped around her and that is when she saw it.

Why had this not registered before now? The lion tattoo that she'd always known was there? Oh God this was the man that pixie dust had told her was her true love.

She felt him place a gentle kiss to the side of her head and one tear escaped as she heard him whisper. "Goodnight my love."

Yes, this was certainly going to be a very effective way of breaking her heart.

XXXXXXXX

**Hope you guys enjoyed! You all know by now that reviews are my crack! Please tell me what you thought!**

**A week from Sunday Once is finally back! Who's excited?!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to all who reviewed/followed/favored! I have bumped up the rating to M.**

XXXXXXXX

Regina awoke to the feel of strong arms around her. It was a familiar feeling as this is how she'd woken up nearly every morning since they were brought back to Storybrook. In the last several months she'd woken every morning feeling safer then she ever had in her life. As comforting as the feeling was it was equally heartbreaking. She wouldn't be waking to this much longer.

At some point in the night she'd turned in her sleep and she was now nestled into his chest. She kept her eyes closed doing her best to memorize the feel of his arms around her. She wanted to remember the security of being in the arms of someone who truly loved her. Of course she didn't fool herself into actually believing that he loved her. He was cursed to feel this way and make no mistake, anyone in their right mind would realize that being married to the Evil Queen was a curse.

It was made all the more heartbreaking that this was the man who was supposed to be her happy ending. He was the one who was supposed to be her true love, but that was a lifetime ago. The things she had done since certainly insured that no one would be able to love her.

So she would enjoy this moment. She would remember what it felt like to be held by someone who loved her. Sure it was a lie, but it was most likely as close as she would ever come to it.

Her heart beat a little faster when she felt him shift and place a kiss against her hair. She did her best to remain relaxed as he began rubbing her back lightly. She continued to tell herself in her mind to act natural…don't freak out.

The truth was she didn't know how to be natural in a situation like this. For one thing she wasn't used to being held like this…well her cursed self was, but Regina wasn't that person. She was herself now and people didn't hold her like this. Not to mention the fact that he was still cursed and she couldn't very well just tell him what was going on.

He would have her locked away for sure.

She took a deep breath and shifted giving him a soft smile. "Good morning."

He looked down at her and grinned. "Good morning beautiful." He shifted and moved down so they were now both on their side and facing each other. He put his hand on her side and placed a kiss to her lips. "Did you sleep well?"

She smiled. "I always do when I'm with you." What?! She thought to herself. Where in the hell had that come from. Maybe there was more of her cursed self still in there then she realized.

He moved his hand that currently rested at her waist and brought it around her back before pulling her closer to him. Her chest was now flush against his and she felt her breath catch. Oh no…would he expect sex?

Regina's heart beat a little faster. It wasn't as if they hadn't had sex. Hell they'd been living together as husband and wife for nearly six months…of course they had, but now…things were certainly not the same as they were.

She had her memories back and he didn't. It wouldn't be right for her to allow that to happen anymore would it? It just didn't seem fair to him to continue a sexual relationship when she knew the truth and he didn't.

She sighed and closed her eyes when he brought his hand up to push her hair back from her face. "It's nice to actually get to spend some time in bed with you. The last two mornings you have gotten up so early I haven't had a chance to hold you…or even talk to you."

Regina smiled and told herself to stop panicking. "I missed you too."

He grinned. "I've missed you a lot." He leaned in and pressed another kiss to her mouth. When he lingered for a moment Regina instinctively parted her lips to allow him access. He grinned a bit before sliding his tongue slowly into her mouth. All of Regina's thoughts seemed to melt away as he kissed her. She moaned into his mouth as he deepened the kiss and their tongues tangled in an intimate dance with each other.

He pulled back for a moment and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek while he allowed his hand to slide down to her hip. He smiled and began to lower his head for another kiss before Regina placed a hand on his chest. One more kiss like that and it wouldn't matter if sleeping with him was right or wrong, she would be putty in his hands.

Damn his kisses were potent.

"I should probably start breakfast. Roland will be up soon." She told him.

He groaned a little and pulled her closer. "Aww…it's the weekend. He might sleep for a little while yet and I have missed my wife." He leaned down to feather soft kisses along her neck.

Regina swallowed at the sensations he was sending through her body with the attention he was paying to her neck. "Mmm…I would hate for us to start something we can't finish, not to mention that your son has the habit of barging into our room on Saturday mornings…I wouldn't want him to end up scared for life. He is an early riser."

Robin nearly growled. "Just like his Mother." He leaned in and placed a kiss to her nose.

Regina felt a pang at that comment…it was the same pang she felt every time she remembered that Roland wasn't actually her child.

"Can we at least stay in bed until he wakes up?" Robin wanted to know. "I promise I'll behave myself…our son won't be scared for life today."

Regina grinned. "I'm not sure you are capable of behaving yourself."

Robin ran his hand up her side. "Well I will admit that being this close to you makes it difficult." He leaned in for another kiss. "But I will do my best. I miss holding my girl."

Regina wanted to cry when he called her his girl. This life with him and Roland was so normal. It was what she had dreamed of for so long as a little girl. Living with her mother had been a rough childhood. All she had wanted was the complete opposite of that. She'd wanted a simple life with the man she loved and children…she'd wanted lots of children.

That life hadn't been in the cards for her though. It had been ripped away the day her mother had killed Daniel and she had been forced to marry the king. He had never even pretended to love her. Instead he'd treated her as a glorified babysitter that he occasionally liked to use to warm his bed.

There had been other lovers, but there had never been love…there had never been kindness, longing or tenderness. All of her relationships had been lust driven. There had been no spending a lazy Saturday morning in bed kissing and holding each other close.

It would have been better if Regina had never been shown what it was she was missing.

"Come on Regina…cuddle with me for a while." Robin urged.

She gave him a small smile and this time it was she who leaned in for a kiss. She moved her hand to the back of his head as she gently urged him to open his lips with her tongue. One more kiss wouldn't hurt. Just one more.

He smiled when she pressed herself against him and was more then happy to oblige her in deepening the kiss. When she pulled back for a breath she gently stroked his face.

"You know it's not fair to ask me to behave myself then turn around and kiss me like that." He told her grinning.

Before she could speak the bedroom door opened and an excited five year old was leaping into their bed. "Good morning!" The boy said grinning from the end of the bed.

"Good morning sweetheart." Regina smiled at the energetic child.

"Your son has terrible timing." Robin whispered into her ear.

"I told you it wouldn't be long before he was up." Regina grinned at him.

"Daddy…" Roland said pushing on his father's leg. "Move over. It's my turn to snuggle with Mommy."

Robin grumbled a bit but moved so Roland could crawl between them. The boy settled himself between his parents and cuddled himself against Regina. "What we gonna do today Mama?" He asked her.

"What would you like to do?" She asked him.

"Can we go the arcade?" He asked looking up at her with pleading eyes.

In this moment…in this last little bit of time she had with him, she would promise him anything. Hell she would probably get him a puppy if he asked for one. "I think the arcade sounds like a wonderful idea."

The boy smiled and turned to his father. "You gonna come Daddy?" He asked.

Robin grinned and ruffled the boy's hair. "Well I'm not just gonna sit around here by myself all day."

"Don't forget that Emma and Henry are coming for dinner tonight." Regina reminded them both.

"Yay!" Roland said. "The arcade then some new friends!"

Regina leaned in and placed a kiss to Roland's head. "I guess I should get up and make breakfast." She tickled Roland's belly causing him to laugh and squirm. "I gotta feed my growing boy."

Robin reached out and took her hand into his then brought it to his mouth. "I'll fix breakfast." He told her. "Your growing boy hasn't seen much of you the last two days and I think he's starved for some Mommy cuddles."

Regina smiled and brought her arm around Roland as Robin climbed out of bed. "Any requests?" He asked.

"Pancakes!" Roland said.

"I think I can manage pancakes" Robin told them both as he grinned and walked out of the room.

"Mommy, I've missed you in the mornings." Roland told her. He was used to her being the one to wake him in the mornings for school, but since she had left the house early the last two days he hadn't gotten his normal morning routine.

"I've missed you in the mornings too baby." She told him and pulled him a little closer. "Roland you know I love you right."

Roland looked up at her and nodded. "Yep." He answered.

Regina smiled at his simple answer. "I just want you to remember that ok?" She brushed his hair back from his head. "No matter what happens, I want you to remember that I love you so very much."

"I won't forget Mama." He promised.

She smiled a little sadly and placed a kiss to his head. "Good."

XXXXXXXX

Regina put the finishing touches on her lasagna before placing it in the oven. Their family day had gone well. She had been worried that she wouldn't be able to act the way her cursed self had, but she found that it wasn't very hard to fall back into the routine that she'd lived for the past several months.

Of course having Roland around made things easier. He was such a sweet boy. It was so strange to have two separate lifetimes in your head. While she knew who she really was and that this had never really been her family at the same time she couldn't help but think of them that way. She could tell herself in her head that the memories of them weren't real, but her heart was a different story entirely.

She did think of Roland as her son, she could only hope that when the curse was broken and everything came crashing down around her that she would still be able to have a part in his life. She hoped he would want her to and that Robin would be ok with it.

Spending time with Robin was a little more complicated. Being with him made her long for things that she knew weren't meant for her. No one could live the life she had and expect someone to fall in love with them. Robin was to good of a man to want to be with a woman like her.

The way he was with her though…that made her long for this life they had together. He was considerate of her feelings, he listened to her and he was kind. She paid attention to the gentle hand that he would lay on her back or the way he would look at her when she was talking to Roland. He looked at her with love. Only one other person had ever looked at her that way and he'd been taken from her.

Regina had often found herself wondering after Daniel's death what it would be like to be married to a man who looked at her that way. Now she knew. It was to bad she would have to lose it.

She shook her head. She was being ridiculous. These were cursed memories. They weren't real. None of it was real. She had to stop dwelling on Robin. Everything they had found together was a lie. It wasn't like Roland who was a child and would possibly be willing to have her in his life. Robin was a grown man. He was a man who had been in love before…probably with a decent woman. He would see this curse as exactly what it was…a curse.

She glanced up when she heard the doorbell. She was nervous about this dinner as well. It hadn't been lost on her the day before the way Henry had glared at Roland. If someone had told her two years ago that Henry would one day look at another child with jealousy because of her she never would have believed it, but if she wasn't mistaken it had been jealousy in his eyes. She also hadn't missed the fact that Henry assumed that when the curse was broken, Regina would cease to have anything to do with Roland.

Of course he may be right about that. Regina's heart picked up when she thought about the fact that Robin could very well keep Roland from her. After all she wasn't his mother…she was the Evil Queen. Just because the man had been friendly to her in the Enchanted Forest didn't mean that he would want her to be a parental figure in his son's life.

But if he was willing to let her be in his life she wanted to.

She would have to talk to Henry about that if it happened. She knew he wouldn't be happy about it, but she couldn't just erase her feelings for the little boy that she'd grown to love. She wanted him in her life. She hoped that Henry would be able to accept that.

She walked out of the kitchen to find Robin already at the door letting Emma and Henry in. Her heart lurched as it always did when she saw her son. She wanted to run to him and pull him into her arms.

Emma smiled at her. On the way over she had coached Henry on what to say. She didn't want him calling her Mom. Talk about blowing their cover. She hadn't been sure how good of an idea this would be. All they needed was just one thing to go wrong and it would be over. They would all be locked in the Storybrooke mental institution and the curse would remain in tact forever.

"Something smells great!" Emma commented.

"I made lasagna." Regina told them.

Henry grinned. "My favorite." He commented making Regina smile. She knew it was his favorite, it's why she had made it.

"Mine too!" Roland piped up. "Mommy makes the best lasagna."

Henry looked at the boy with that same look Regina had seen the day before.

"Indeed she does." Robin added. "The best lasagna in town."

Emma pasted on a smile when she saw the way Henry was glaring at Roland. "Anything we can do to help? I'm not the best cook but I'm great with salad…or you know slicing bread."

Regina smiled and shook her head. "I have everything under control, but I wouldn't mind some company." It wouldn't hurt to have the opportunity to see if the two of them had learned anything new.

"I'll keep you company." Henry added quickly then shrugged when Emma gave him a look. What part of act natural had he missed? "I like watching people cook." he added.

Regina saw the crestfallen look on Roland's face. He'd been hoping that the older boy would want to play with him. He'd been talking about Henry coming all day and wondered if he would like his bedroom which had various super heroes all over it.

"Are you sure Henry?" Robin asked noticing the look that came to his son's face. "Roland and I were just about to start up the Xbox."

Henry shook his head. "Nah, I like to hang out in the kitchen." He grinned and added. "I don't really get the chance to do it…like…ever." He eyed Emma with a grin.

Emma rolled her eyes. "That's his way of saying I'm a terrible cook." She looked at Roland who still looked sad that Henry didn't want to hang out with him. "I however hate the kitchen though so I would love to play some Xbox." She told the little boy. It would give Henry and Regina some time together anyway

He looked up his face brightening a little. "Ok." He took her by the hand and led her into the living room.

Robin looked at them as if he wanted to follow, but then looked back at Regina. "Um…is there anything you need me to do?" He asked her.

Regina grinned and shook her head. "Go play your game."

He smiled back at her and dropped a quick kiss to her mouth. "You're the best babe."

"I know." She told him and shooed him into the living room.

When they were left alone again Henry wrapped his arms around her waist and grinned up at her. "I'm glad I get to spend some time with you."

She smiled back at him and pulled her arms a bit tighter. "Me too."

Once they were in the kitchen Henry sat at the island and watched as she began to prepare the salad. "It's weird seeing you with a husband."

Regina laughed a little. "It's weird having a husband." She told him.

"Who is he in the Enchanted Forest?" Henry wanted to know.

Regina grinned. "Well I'll give you a hint…His name hasn't changed."

Henry looked at her for a moment. "Robin _Hood_?!" He grinned from ear to ear. "My Mom is married to Robin Hood."

"So it would seem." Regina said.

"Did you know him there?" Henry asked.

Regina nodded. "We helped each other a bit."

"Were you guys friends?" He wanted to know.

"We were friendly." She said.

Henry lifted a brow. "Did you like him?"

"He was nice to me and always polite." Regina told him.

"But I mean…did you like like him." Henry asked.

"Double like huh?" She grinned at her son. "No, I had trouble focusing on anything but you when I was there."

"So you're not attracted to him at all?" he asked.

"I…" Regina started to answer then made a face. "Why am I talking about this with you? You are my son. I'm supposed to be asking you about your crushes not telling you about mine."

"So you _do_ have a crush on him?" Henry grinned when Regina narrowed her eyes at him. "You're talking to me because at the moment me and Emma are your only options to talk to…and Emma has a tendency to make conversations like this awkward."

Regina shook her head and leaned in to place a kiss to his cheek. "Well at least I know you come by it honestly dear."

Henry laughed and rolled his eyes. "I'm not as awkward as Emma Mom."

She smiled again. "Maybe not quite."

Henry studied her for a moment. "So what about the kid?"

Regina looked at her son's face. "Roland…he has a name Henry."

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah so what about _Roland_?"

"Roland is Robin's son. I actually met him before I met Robin. He wandered into my part of the castle and got himself turned around. I helped him find his father." Regina told him. She laid a hand on Henry's arm. "He's a very sweet boy Henry. You should really give him a chance." When Henry only looked down at her hand she continued. "He's been looking forward to you coming all day. He wanted to show you his room…He really wants to impress you."

"Why?" Henry asked.

Regina smiled and ruffled his hair. "Because you're so cool."

Henry rolled his eyes. "I would rather spend time with you."

Regina took a breath and nodded. "Ok, but maybe you could let him show you his room before you leave…and maybe you could be very impressed by it?"

Henry looked back up at her. "What difference does it make? When he gets his memories back he's not going to care about impressing me…or his room."

"Henry" Regina said in exasperation. "He's five. Of course he will still care about those things."

Henry looked back up at her. "Do you love him?"

Regina blinked but didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Henry shook his head. "Why? He's not your son! I am!"

Regina took his hand into hers. "Yes you are but so is he…Henry" Regina paused. "You know how you have new memories with Emma now?"

Henry nodded. "Yeah."

"Well are those memories any less real to you even though you know the truth now?" She asked him.

Henry sighed. "I guess not." He looked back into her eyes. "But I am Emma's son…your not really his Mom."

That comment cut like a knife. "Blood doesn't matter Henry…you know that. To him I am his Mother…and yes he is my son. If Robin is ok with it I want to continue to be in his life. Even after the curse breaks."

Henry shook his head. "But you're _my_ Mom."

Regina laid her hand on his cheek. "If I were to get married and have another child would you object to it?"

Henry shook his head. "I don't know…I just always had you to myself before."

Regina smiled. "And I loved it when it was the two of us Henry, but things are different now…I have other people in my life, but it hasn't made me love you any less."

"If you love Roland like your son then do you love Robin too?" He wanted to know.

"I…things with Robin are more complicated. It always is with adults." She told him. "Will you just try to be sweet with Roland? Please?" Regina asked him.

Henry rolled his eyes. "I guess."

XXXXXXXX

Henry and Roland walked back down the stairs after dinner with Roland happily chatting away.

"I love Batman! He's my favorite of all!" Roland told him.

"Spiderman's better." Henry told him but caught his mother's eye and sighed. "But Batman is cool too."

"Thanks for having us for dinner." Emma said as she slipped into her coat. "It was great." She and Regina hadn't really had the chance to talk but Henry had gotten to spend some time with his other mother.

"Thanks for coming!" Robin said. "It's always great to get to know people from other places. Sometimes we forget around here that there are other places besides our small town."

Regina smiled sad to see her son leaving again. "It was wonderful having both of you." She laid a hand on Henry's shoulder. "Thanks for keeping me company in the kitchen."

"Anytime" He grinned at her. He wanted to hug her but didn't want to make it seem weird so he waved instead. "See ya soon."

"Thanks for coming to see my room Henry!" Roland said.

Henry gave the little boy a small smile…he did promise his mother he would try. "Sure kid, It's a pretty cool room." Roland beamed at him and Henry felt a little stab of guilt for not being very nice to him.

Regina mouthed a thank you to Henry and he smiled at her. "See you all soon." Emma told them as they turned and walked to the car.

"They are really friendly." Robin commented as he watched them. "I wonder how much longer they will stay."

"As long as it takes." Regina said then finished when he raised his eyebrow. "For Emma to find that girl she's looking for."

"Can I play more Xbox?" Roland asked.

Regina turned to him. "It's getting close to your bed time and you still need a bath."

"Please Mama?" He asked with big sad eyes.

Regina knelt down and pulled him into a hug. "Xbox tomorrow baby…bath time now."

XXXXXXXX

"He out?" Robin asked from the couch when Regina walked down after changing into her pajamas and reading Roland a story.

Regina smiled. "He barely made it through three pages."

"He had a big day" Robin said as she sat on the opposite end of the couch. "Why are you sitting way down there for?" He grinned.

Regina swallowed and shrugged but moved closer and he wrapped an arm around her. "What are you watching?"

He shrugged. "Some old movie called 'Romancing the Stone' It's not bad."

She smiled at him and turned to watch the TV. She felt him shift and begin to play with her hair a bit. This was nice. Sitting with him like this. It was just to normal.

He heart began to beat a little harder when he leaned in and placed a kiss to her neck. She swallowed as he moved up to nibble on her ear.

This was wrong she thought frantically. He didn't have his memories but she did. She shouldn't let this happen…but it was so nice to be with someone like this. Someone who actually felt something for her besides simply lust.

She wanted this. She wanted to be with him. Not as her cursed self but as her. She could remember what it felt like to make love with him. It had happened many times when she was still under the curse.

Was it really so wrong to want to feel this way as herself…just once? Was it really so wrong that she wanted to know what it felt like to be touched by someone who loved her? She wanted to know what it felt like…not as her cursed self, but as her, the person she was. She wanted to know what it felt like for someone to cherish her. She wanted to feel hands that didn't possess her roughly and with no care for her own pleasure. This was certainly the closest she would ever come to it. She knew that it wasn't her he was in love with, but the cursed version of herself. But for once in her life she would like to know what it felt like to be loved like that. To have someone look at her the way Robin did.

Was it really so wrong?

She sighed as he moved back down to her neck and her breathing increased. She couldn't think straight as he feathered kissed across her jaw before reaching her mouth. She parted her lips in invitation and he didn't hesitate to dive in. She let out a moan as he moved his hand from her stomach to lightly caress one of her nipples through her pajama shirt.

To hell with what was right. She thought to herself. She may hate herself in the morning but she wanted this. She wanted to know what it felt like to be touched by someone who loved her.

She moved her hand to the back of his head as he began to trail his lips down her neck and into the V of her pajama top even as he moved his hand to the buttons. She feared her heart would pound right out of her chest as his lips moved lower and her top began to fall open in the center. When he got to the last button he brought his hands under her legs and she shifted so that she now straddled him on the couch. He grinned at her as he weaved his fingers through her hair and brought her lips down to his for another kiss.

He moved his hands down to her pajama to and pushed the sides apart so he could see her. He moved both hands over her breasts and lightly brushed her hardened nipples as he moved his hands along the front of her body causing her to let out a long moan. He grinned into her mouth before he moved his lips down her chest. He feathered kisses along the upper part of her torso before finally arriving at her breast. Regina gasped when he pulled one of her nipples into his mouth.

It felt so good. It felt right. No one had ever touched her this way. All of her experiences before this had been rushed and heated. No one had ever wanted to take their time and savor her.

She bit her lip when he moved his attention to her other breast. She wanted him more then she had ever wanted anything in her life. She arched her back into his mouth.

"Mommy!" She heard the scream as if in a fog. "Mommy! Daddy!" She heard it again this time more clearly. Roland was screaming for them from his room.

Regina swallowed even as Robin's head fell back to the couch and he groaned. She cleared her throat and sat up straight pulling her pajama top closed. "I'll get him." She told Robin.

He smiled a bit. "I'll come with you." He told her.

Regina did up the buttons to her top as she hurried up the stairs to her crying child and pushed open the door to his room. "What is it baby?" He had been having nightmares recently. Regina hoped it was just a stage.

"There was a monster Mama. It was trying to get me!" He told her.

"Oh, sweetheart. There are no monsters here." She walked to him after flipping on the light and pulled him into her arms.

"Mommy I saw it!" He told her. Robin walked in a moment later. "Daddy there was a monster!" He told Robin.

Robin went through the normal routine of checking the closet and under the bed but Roland couldn't be swayed.

He shook his head with tears rolling down his face and clung to Regina. "Mommy please don't leave me here. I'm scared!" He told her. "Can I please sleep with you and Daddy?"

Regina sighed and looked up at Robin who already looked resigned to the fact that what they had started earlier would not be finished tonight. She sighed internally but shook her head. It was better this way…it was. She shouldn't have let that happen. Robin could end up hating her more if she did. No they couldn't do this. It really was better this way.

She ignored the little voice that told her she would never have this opportunity again. She would never know what it felt like to be with a man who truly loved her.

It didn't matter. At least that's what she tried to tell herself.

XXXXXXXX

**Hope you all enjoyed. Please please leave a review! They are my crack as you know.**

**I do have some bad news. I have to send my computer to get fixed on Monday. It is halfway working right now which is why I was able to give you an update on this story, but I will be without it for 7 to 10 business days so I am not sure about updates on my stories during that time. Since I do use my computer for work too I am going to see if they will let me borrow one of the laptops we have there to use at home. If they do I might be able to get you an update on at least Starting Over but I will have to see. **

**Once is back tomorrow! Are you excited?! Please stop by and say hello on tumblr if you like, I'm thequeenstolemyheart (although if I don't have a computer I won't be on there as much either) You can also find me on twitter. I do have the twitter app on my phone that I use a lot. I'm mrsddixon**


End file.
